FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing East Coast Conference play, the rookie pair of
Nkiru Awaka (Hyde Park, N.Y.) and
Jalea Abrams (Elmira, N.Y.) combined for 33 points as the Queens College women's basketball team welcomed the Saints of D'Youville University to open a three-game homestand inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
Game Recap
The first half of the game would feature nine ties and six lead changes as both teams traded buckets in the early going.
With the score tied at 8-8 with 7:21 to go in the first quarter, both teams would go scoreless over three minutes of play before a layup from Awaka put the Knights up 10-8 with 4:45 left in the first stanza.
Queens would continue to keep the D'Youville without a field for over five minutes before the Saints tied the game at 10-10 with 2:40 left.
The Hyde Park native would end the first quarter on a 4-0 run as the Knights took a 14-12 lead heading into the second quarter.
Queens would extend their lead to four points as sophomore
Brianna Davis (Bronx, N.Y.) opened the scoring in the second stanza to give the home side a 16-12 lead at the 9:06 mark.
But the Saints would respond with a 6-0 run to take an 18-16 lead as they held the Knights scoreless for three minutes before Abrams broke the drought to tie the game at 18-18 with 5:04 to go until halftime.
Scoring from Awaka and Davis would continue to keep pace with D'Youville, but with the score tied at 24-24 with 2:11 to go, the visitors would end the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 31-26 lead at halftime.
As the Saints opened the scoring in the third quarter on a 4-0 run to extend their advantage to 10, 36-26, a layup from Awaka would bring the deficit down to eight, 36-28 with 8:46 left in the quarter.
But the Saints would get hot using the long ball as they went on a 15-0 run to take a 23-point lead of 51-28 before earning the ECC victory over the Knights Friday evening.
By the Numbers
- Awaka led the Knights offense with a team-high 17 points (8-of-10 FG) to go with nine rebounds, two assists, one block and one assist.
- Abrams recorded 16 points to go with four rebounds and tied a career-best three steals on the evening.
- Davis recorded 10 points, five rebounds, three blocks (Tying a career-best) and three steals.
- As a team, the Knights were held to 40.0% as they went 18-45 from the field, while the Saints shot 41.2% going 28-68 from the field.
Next Game
The homestand continues on Sunday (Dec. 10) afternoon as they welcome Daemen University Wildcats to town. Tip-off set for 3:00 p.m.
Follow the Knights
All home games will be live-streamed on the
ECC Sports Network and fans can follow along on
live stats as well.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), X (Formerly Twitter) (@QCKnights), Queens College WBB (QCKNIGHTS_WBB), and Instagram (qcknightsny), women's basketball (qcknightswbb).
