FLUSHING, N.Y. – In one of the most thrilling games to take place inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium this season, 40 minutes of regulations were merely not enough as the Queens College women's basketball team matched up against the #10 team in the nation and the lone team undefeated in the East region in the Greyhounds of Assumption University Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
In a back-and-forth affair as sophomore
Chelsea Reeves (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded her second straight double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while graduate student
Raven Pitt (Valley Stream, N.Y.) filled the stats sheet with a career-high 20 points to lead the offense, the Knights who led the game for nearly 44 minutes and 17 seconds would falter in the third overtime period to drop the non-conference affair to the final score of 81-76.
Game Recap
The Greyhounds opened the scoring from long distance at the 9:26 mark before the Knights put together an 11-0 run over the next two minutes and 56 seconds (9:07 – 6:11) to jump ahead 11-3 with 6:11 left in the first quarter.
Leading 11-5, Queens would end the first quarter on a 6-4 run as they held the Greyhounds to 26.7% while shooting 58.3% as they went 7-12 from the field to lead 17-9 after the first 10 minutes of play.
Leading 17-9, Reeves and Pitt put together a 5-2 run as the Knights took an 11-point lead of 22-11 with 5:55 remaining until halftime.
Long distance shooting (3-4 3PT) would keep the Greyhounds in the game as they ended the second quarter on a 15-6 run to cut Queens' deficit down to two, 28-26 at halftime.
The third quarter would see both teams trade buckets as they continued to answer each other but Queens would take a slim one-point edge of 42-41 lead into the fourth.
Assumption took their first lead of the game since their opening bucket in the first quarter on a second-chance layup with 9:34 on the game clock.
Junior
Kendra McPeek (Binghamton, N.Y.) would answer with back-to-back layups in a 4-0 run to give Queens a 46-43 lead with 8:49 left in regulation.
After the Greyhounds cut the Knights' deficit down to 1, 46-45 with 6:47 left, sophomore
Aalia Carlson (Montclair, N.J.) put the Knights on a 7-3 run as the Knights took a five-point lead of 53-48 with 5:02 to go.
But the Greyhounds refused to go away as the visitors put together a 10-3 run from 4:41 to 1:10 as they reclaimed the lead and jumped ahead 58-56 forcing a Queens timeout.
Trialing 58-56, a timely pass freshman
Brianna Davis (Bronx, N.Y.) would allow junior
Khadija Demry (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to knock down a jumper on the wing to tie the game 58-58 with 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
After the Greyhounds missed a long-distance shot with 17 seconds left in the game, the Knights would get one final attempt to earn their second straight victory, but Pitt's jumper would fall short with 2 seconds left as Queens went to overtime for the first time this season.
After both teams went scoreless over the first two minutes of play, Reeves would break the scoreless drought at the 3:25 mark with a three-pointer to put the Knights up 61-58.
Queens would continue to stay ahead as they took a 65-60 lead with 1:48 left in the first overtime but three-point shooting allowed the Greyhounds to force the game into overtime
Free throw shooting in the first overtime would hurt the Knights' chances of closing out the game as they went 3-7 from the charity stripe.
In the second overtime, Queens once again took a four-point lead of 70-66, before the home side went cold over the final 2:12 minutes of the second overtime as Assumption made their comeback to tie the game and sent the game into another additional five minutes of play.
The visitors put together a 5-0 run as they took a 75-70 with 3:04 left in the third overtime before Pitt brought the Knights back within two, 75-73 as she knocked down a shot from long range with 2:44 left in the game.
Free throw shooting would hurt the Knights' comeback attempt and a chance to seal the victory as they went 10-20 from the line in the three overtime periods as they dropped the final game of the fall semester to the score of 81-76.
Game Highlights
- Reeves led all scorers for the second game in a row as she posted her second double-double of the season with 21 points (7-15 FG) to go with 11 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
- Pitt notched a career-high 20 points (7-19 FG) with seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals, while Carlson tallied 10 points (4-11 FG) off the bench.
- Carlson tallied 10 points, while Pitt notched five points (2-4 FG) with a career-high eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
- The Knights shot 37.2% going 29-78 from the field, while the Greyhounds shot 36.8% from the field with a 28-76 field goal performance.
NEXT TIP-OFF: Following the Christmas break, head coach
Bet Naumovski and the Knights return to action on the road as they travel to North Easton, Mass with a matchup against Division I NEC member Skyhawks of Stonehill College on Thursday (Dec. 29) afternoon. Tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.
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