NEWARK, DE – Continuing non-conference play the Queens College women's basketball team traveled to Newark, Delaware for a matchup against the Wildcats of Wilmington University inside the WU Athletics Complex.
Four Knights led the offense with the rookie duo of guard
Sajol Thornhill (Ashburn, VA.) and forward
Autumn Simon (Bellport, N.Y.) recording their first career double-double as they combined for 33 points, while the duo of sophomore guard
Jalea Abrams (Elmira, N.Y.) and rookie guard
Ashley Chio (North Vancouver, CA.) combined for 24 points as Queens earned a 65-47 victory over the Wildcats Tuesday evening.
With the victory, Queens earned their first victory of the year and have defeated the Wildcats for the third straight season.
GAME RECAP
Queens came out of the gate firing led by Thornhill recording nine points in a 16-3 run from the 9:40 mark to the 3:36 mark.
The Wildcats would attempt to cut into Queens' lead as they went on a 9-4 run to end the first quarter of play but behind Simon and Chio, the Knights would take an eight-point lead of 20-12 heading into the second quarter.
Leading 20-13, Chio and rookie forward
Chinyere Ukaegbu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would start an 11-2 run for the Knights as Queens took their largest lead of the game of 16 points, 31-15 by the 5:45 mark.
But as Queen's went into a scoring slump, the home side would once again cut the visitors advantage down to single digits using a 9-0 run to the score of 31-25. Abrams would end the drought at the .49 second mark before a steal from Ukaegbu and a layup from Chio helped Queens take a 10-point lead of 34-24 into the locker rooms at halftime.
The Wildcats opened the scoring to begin the third quarter using a 4-0 run to get within six, 34-28 at the 8:58 mark.
A jumper from Thornhill would open Queens scoring in the third quarter at the 7:37 mark as the Knights started an 11-3 run to extend their lead back into double-digits to the score of 45-31 by the 3:23 mark.
With Queens forcing nine Wildcats turnovers in the third quarter led by three steals from Thornhill, the Knights would end the final 1:55 of the stanza on a 6-0 run as they took a 17-point lead of 51-34 into the final 10 minutes of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Knight would hold the Wildcats to four made field goals and forced six turnovers to hold a lead of 15 points or more to earn the 65-47 non-conference victory Tuesday evening.
BY THE NUMBERS
- It would be a career day for Thornhill as the rookie led the offense recording her first career double-double of the year with 21 points (7-of-14 FG | 7-of-8 FT) to go with 12 steals, six assists, and four rebounds.
- The 12 steals would break the program and freshman record for most steals in a single game of 11 steals set by Madison Rowland on February 1, 2014, against Bridgeport.
- Rookie Simon recorded her first career double-double with 12 points (5-of-10 FG | 2-of-3 FT) and 13 rebounds.
- Rookie Chio notched 12 points (5-of-11 FG | 2-of-5 3PT) to go five assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
- Abrams notched 12 points, four rebounds, and one steal in the victory.
- Ukaegbu notched a career-best eight points, 10 rebounds, six steals and three assists in the victory.
- As a team, Queens shot 23-of-70 from the field (32.9 %), 3-of-16 from distance (18.8%), and 16-of-22 from the charity stripe (72.7%) in the victory.
- The Knights held a 45-38 rebounding margin and forced 32 Wildcats turnovers into 34 points in the victory.
NEXT GAME
The Knights open a three-game homestand beginning with hosting the Knights Thanksgiving Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 30 as they welcome the Golden Falcons of Felician University to town. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
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).
