FLUSHING, N.Y. – The sophomore duo of forward
Nkiru Awaka (Hyde Park, N.Y.) and guard
Jalea Abrams (Elmira, N.Y.) paced the Queens College women's team offense against defending East Coast Conference champions Daemen University Wildcats inside Fitzgerald Gymnasium Sunday afternoon in ECC play.
But a sluggish second quarter of play would hurt the Knights as Queens were unable to complete a second half comeback to fall short to the final score of 64-44 against the Wildcats.
With the loss, the Knights move to 7-7 overall and 2-2 in ECC play.
GAME RECAP
The Wildcats opened the scoring from distance before the duo of Awaka and rookie forward
Autumn Simon (Bellport, N.Y.) combined for back-to-back buckets as Queens took a slim lead of 4-3 at the 8:37 mark.
As both sides traded leads on the next two possessions, the visitors would use a 6-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with 5:13 left in the stanza.
An old fashion three-point play from Awaka and a layup from rookie forward
Chinyere Ukaegbu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would tie the game at 11-11 with 3:35 left.
Over the final three minutes of the first quarter, both sides would be limited to one made field goal as the first stanza saw four lead changes and two ties with a layup from Abrams tying at 13-13 heading into the second quarter of play.
Daemen opened the second quarter by scoring the first four points to take a 17-13 lead before Awaka got the Knights on the board at the 7:35 mark to get within two, 17-15.
But as the Knights went into a shooting slump, the visitors would break the game open using a 22-2 run to end the second quarter of play as they took a 39-17 lead into halftime.
Queens would hold Daemen to 13.3% shooting in the third quarter as the Knights outscored the Wildcats to 10-6 in the stanza.
In the fourth quarter, the Knights would produce their best shooting effort of the day as they shot 41.1% from the field with the duo of Abrams and Awaka combining for 11 points but the first half deficit would prove to be too much as Queens dropped their second ECC contest of the year.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Awaka recorded her fourth double-double of the year and second of the week with a team-high 13 points and 17 rebounds to go with two steals.
- Abrams notched 11 points with five rebounds and two assists.
- Simon tallied six points, six rebounds, and two blocks in her first career start.
- Queens won the boards (47-42) battle and held a 17-5 advantage in second chance points.
NEXT GAME
Queens opens a two-game road stand beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 15 with a trip to Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. as they match up against last year's ECC finalists in the Mavericks of Mercy University. The Mavericks enter the week with an overall record of 9-6 and 3-2 in ECC play and are coming off an 80-66 victory over the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon.
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