FLUSHING, N.Y. – Opening a four-game homestand the Queens College women's basketball team welcomed the Golden Falcons of Felician University to Fitzgerald Gymnasium on Day 1 of the Knights Thanksgiving Invitational.
Led by sophomore guard
Jalea Abrams's (Elmira, N.Y.) season-high 22 points and a career day from rookie point guard
Ashley Chio (North Vancouver, CA.) who recorded 16 points and six assists, the Knights earned a 64-55 victory over the Golden Falcons Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, Queens earned their second straight victory of the year to improve to 2-2 on the year. With their victory, the Knights have defeated the Golden Falcons for the second straight year and earned their first home victory over their non-conference foes since the 2008-2009 season when Queens earned a 65-58 on December 20, 2008.
GAME RECAP
It was a slow start to the game for both sides as they combined to go 0-7 in the opening 2:01 minutes of the game before a steal and layup from sophomore forward
Nkiru Awaka (Hyde Park, N.Y.) opened the scoring at the 7:51 mark before an Abrams layup at the 7:14 put Queens up 4-0.
But the Golden Falcons would finally get on the scoreboard at the 6:35 mark to start a 9-0 run to take a 9-4 lead by the 4:13 mark forcing a Queens timeout.
Out of the timeout, Queens would quickly respond as rookie guard
Sajol Thornhill (Ashburn, VA.) found classmate
Arianna Lopez (Newburgh, N.Y.) for a three-pointer at the 3:54 mark to get within two, 9-7.
As the Knights held the Golden Falcons without a field goal over the final 3:39 of play, Chio would tally 11 points from the 2:40 mark as Queens ended the first quarter on a 12-1 run to take a lead of nine points, 19-10 into the second quarter.
Rookie forward
Jaeda Hall (Saint Albans, N.Y.) opened the scoring for Queens in the second quarter as the Knight took an 11-point lead of 21-10 at the 9:14 mark before the visitors responded with a 7-4 run to cut the lead back to eight points, 25-17 at the 7:11 mark.
Queens would respond with six quick points with Awaka knocking down two free throws before back-to-back layups from Thornhill gave the Knights a lead of 14 points, 31-17 at the 5:41 mark forcing a Felician timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Golden Falcons would break their drought before two free throws from Chio and a three-pointer from Abrams put the Knights up by 17, their largest lead of the first half, 36-19 by the 3:45 mark.
But the Golden Falcons would hold Queens without a field goal over the final 3:25 as the visitors ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run but the Knights would take a 10-point lead of 36-26 into the locker rooms at halftime.
The visitors taking the momentum from the end of the second quarter opened the third stanza on a 7-2 run as they cut Queens' lead down to five, 38-33 by the 6:55 mark.
As a layup from Hall put Queen's back up by seven, 40-33 at the 6:41 mark, but Felician would continue to cut into the home side advantage as they were able to get within four, 41-37 by the 4:48 mark.
However, Abrams would have other ideas as the sophomore took over in the final 4:23 of the third quarter as Queens ended the period on a 12-2 run with Abrams connecting from deep on three separate occasions as the Knights took a 14-point lead of 53-39 into the final 10 minutes of play.
It would be slow going in the fourth quarter for both teams as they were unable to connect on a field goal in the opening 2:12 minutes of play before the visitors opened the scoring at the 7:22 mark.
Leading by 12, 53-41, Abrams would connect from deep with her fifth three-pointer of the day at the 6:05 mark, tying a career-best for the sophomore guard as Queens took a 56-41 lead.
As the Knights went into a shooting slump, the Golden Falcons responded with a 14-1 run from the 5:52 mark to the 1:37 mark to bring the contest down to a one-possession game of 57-55.
Both teams would commit back-to-back turnovers over the next :43 seconds of play before Abrams converted two free throws to put the Knights back up by four, 59-54 with 54 seconds left in the game.
As Awaka drew a key charge at the :47 second mark to force a Felician turnover, the Knights would seal the game at the charity stripe going 5-of-6 to hold off the Felician fourth quarter rally to earn a 64-55 victory and their second straight victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Abrams led the offense recording a season-best 22 points (7-of-19 FG | 5-of-13 3PT | 3-of-3 FT) to go with four rebounds and one steal.
- The five made three-pointers tied a career-high for the sophomore guard.
- Chio recorded a career-high 16 points, six assists, five rebounds, and two steals in the victory.
- Thornhill tallied eight points (4-of-7 FG) to go with five assists, three steals and one rebound.
- Hall notched eight points, a career-best 11 rebounds, and two assists in the victory.
- Awaka and Lopez combined for 10 points, with the sophomore recording a season-best 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and one assist in the victory.
- As a team, Queens shot 20-of-57 from the field (35.1 %), 8-of-26 from distance (30.8%), and 16-of-26 from the charity stripe (61.5%) in the victory.
- The Knights converted 20 Golden Falcons turnovers into 25 points in the victory.
NEXT GAME
The Knights conclude the Knights Thanksgiving Invitational on Sunday, Dec. 1 as they host the Chargers of Dominican University of New York. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m.
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