ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – Opening the second half of the East Coast Conference slate Saturday afternoon the Queens College women's basketball team matched up against Molloy University Lions inside Bob Houlihan Gymnasium.
Three Knights scored in double figures led by sophomore forward
Nkiru Awaka (Hyde Park, N.Y.) recording her ninth double-double of the year with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, while rookie point guard
Arianna Lopez (Newburgh, N.Y.) tallied a career-high 17 points and classmate guard
Sajol Thornhill (Ashburn, VA.) chipped with 10 points, but a slow start would hurt the Knights as Queens fell to the final score of 74-57 in Rockville Centre.
With the loss, the Knights move to 3-6 in ECC play and into a tie for sixth place in the postseason race.
GAME RECAP
The Knights opened the scoring behind rookie forward
Chinyere Ukaegbu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) converting 1-of-2 at the free throw line before the Lions went on an 8-1 run to take an 8-2 lead by the 6:13 mark.
As Thornhill and Awaka scored back-to-back buckets to get within two, 8-6, the Lions responded with an 11-1 run to end the first stanza as they took a 19-9 lead into the second quarter.
It would be slow going in the second quarter as turnovers continued to hurt the visitors as Molloy opened the stanza with a 14-0 run to take a 24-point lead of 33-9 by the 6:23 mark of the stanza.
The duo of Awaka and Thornhill would lead a 6-2 run with the rookie guard using quick hands for three steals, but Queens would go into halftime trailing by 21, 39-18.
In the third quarter, the Knights would tally 13 points, but the Lions would shoot over 45.0% to keep their lead intact.
Queens would shoot 50.0% from the field on 10-of-20 shooting in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Lions 26-14 but it would be the Lions who earned the ECC victory to the final score of 74-57 to earn a series split as both sides defended home court.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Awaka continued to shine as the sophomore forward recorded her ninth double-double of the year and sixth straight since January 12 with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, five steals, two blocks, and two assists.
- Lopez recorded a career-high 17 points and tied a career-high five assists to go with one steal and one rebound.
- Thornhill recorded 10 points, a game-high six steals, and four rebounds.
- Ukaegbu recorded seven points, 11 rebounds, four steals, two assists, and one block in the contest.
NEXT GAME
Continuing ECC play, the Knights will use the week to prepare for their lone game of the week on Friday, Feb. 7 as they welcome the Redhawks of Roberts Wesleyan University to town. The Knights won the first meeting over Roberts Wesleyan to the final score of 78-54 in Rochester back on December 13, 2024. Tip-off is set for 7:30 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).
