PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Looking to bounce back Sunday afternoon, the Queens College women's basketball team used a strong third quarter in their comeback attempt but the Rams of Jefferson University would stay one step ahead to defeat the Knights 79-56 in the ECC/CACC Conference Challenge.
Graduate student
Raven Pitt (Valley Stream, N.Y.) tallied a career-best 14 points with six assists and five steals while freshman
Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) matched her career-best 12 points and a career-high seven rebounds against the Rams.
The Rams opened the scoring before Pitt and Lapertosa's scoring kept the Knights in pace with the home side.
Following Lapertosa's second straight bucket to tie the game at 6-6, Queens would go scoreless from 6:51 to 2:56 with Jefferson going on a 7-0 run to take a 13-6 edge.
The Valley Stream guard would stop the drought to get the Knights within five, 13-8. But a three-pointer by the Rams would extend their lead to eight at the 2:37 mark forcing Queens to take a timeout.
The timeout would help the Knights as they ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run with Lapertosa and Pitt combining for all the Knights' points. The Knights trailed by three 18-15 as they forced three turnovers in the final 1:48 minutes of the first quarter.
Queens would continue to match the Rams' scoring as both sides traded buckets to open the second quarter. With the Knights trailing back by five at the 7:40 mark, junior guard
Khadija Demry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would complete a three-point play as the Knights got within two, 22-20 at the 7:11 mark.
However, the Knights would go scoreless from 7:11 to 3:51 as the Rams used an 8-0 run to take a 10-point advantage. But sophomore
Chelsea Reeves (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tallied back-to-back points before a jumper by Pitt saw the Knights get within four, 30-26 with 2:23 left until halftime.
But Queens would go into halftime trailing by six, 34-28 staying within distance of completing a comeback in the second half.
The Knights began the third quarter committing three turnovers as Rams took a 15-point lead of 43-28, their largest of the game with 7:33 left in the third.
Junior guard
Aalia Carlson (Montclair, N.J.) tallied eight quick points as Queens attempted a comeback.
Carlson and Demry combined for 14 of the 20 points as the Knights shot 53.3% from the field in the third, the highest-scoring quarter of the young season.
Only behind 12 points to begin the final 10 minutes of play, Queens did their best to keep up with Jefferson. A layup by Lapertosa at the 6:16 mark would bring them within 10, 64-54 forcing the home side to take a timeout.
However as Jefferson struggled on their offense end, the Knights were unable to respond as Queens shot 20.0% in the fourth quarter to drop their second game of the season.
Game Highlights
- Pitt led the Knights with a career-best 14 points (6-11 FG), six assists, and five steals.
- While off the bench Lapertosa matched her season-high 12 points (6-12 FG) with a career-high seven rebounds and Demry tallied 11 points (5-9 FG) with four rebounds.
- Both teams recorded 33 rebounds, but the Rams held a 20-7 scoring difference on second-chance points.
- The Knights shot 41.4% (24-58 FG) from the field including 60.0% from the three-point line.
NEXT TIP-OFF: Queens will host their first game of the season as head coach
Bet Naumovski and the Knights continue non-conference action on Thursday (Nov. 17) evening as they welcome the Eagles of Post University to town. Tip-Off set for 7:00 P.M.
All home games will be live-streamed on the
ECC Network and fans can follow along on live stats.
Live Stats: Women's Basketball
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