AMHERST, N.Y. – The Queens College women's basketball team wrapped up their western New York trip Sunday afternoon as they matched up against the Wildcats of Daemen University inside Lumsden Gymnasium in East Coast Conference play.
The rookie pair of
Arianna Lopez (Newburgh, N.Y.) and
Sajol Thornhill (Ashburn, VA.) paced the Knights offense as they combined for 35 points, but a young Knights squad would go down fighting as they fell to the final score of 61-52.
With the loss, the Knights move to 4-8 in conference play and will now need to win three of their remaining four games to clinch a postseason spot.
GAME RECAP
The Knights jumped ahead 5-2 behind a three-pointer from Lopez and forward
Chinyere Ukaegbu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) driving layup in the opening minute and half. The Wildcats answered back with a 7-0 run to take a 9-5 lead by the 6:28 mark.
A layup from Thornhill would break the Knights' scoreless drought at the 4:38 mark as the Knights got within two, 9-7 before Daemen ended the stanza on a 10-3 run to take a 19-10 lead into the second quarter.
With the Knights still looking to find their rhythm, the Wildcats would extend their run by taking a 15-point lead of 27-12 by the 7:09 mark.
Trialing by 15, Lopez and Thornhill would lead a 12-2 run from the 6:05 mark to the 3:19 mark as the Knights got within five, 29-24.
However, the Wildcats would end the stanza on a 4-1 run as they took an eight point lead of 33-25 into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats opened the stanza on a 7-1 run to extend their lead into double digits of 14 points, 40-26 by the 7:10 mark.
Over the final 6:51 minutes of the third quarter, Queens would put together a 12-6 run with Lopez recording seven points as the Knights went into the final 10 minutes of the game trailing by eight, 46-38.
The Knights squad opened the fourth quarter firing as the trio of
Ashley Chio (North Vancouver, Canada), Lopez, and Thornhill used an 8-4 run to get within four, 50-46 with 7:36 to go in the game.
But the young and inexperienced Knights squad would run out of gas as the Wildcats responded with an 8-0 run to extend their lead back into double digits before closing out the game to earn a 61-52 victory
BY THE NUMBERS
- Lopez recorded a career-best 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with two made three pointers, two steals, one block, one assist, and one rebound.
- The Newburgh native notched a career-best 10 made field goals and her first career block.
- Thornhill recorded 12 points, a career-best six assists, five steals, and three rebounds.
- Ukaegbu recorded five points, a team-high nine rebounds, and one block in the contest.
NEXT GAME
Continuing ECC play, the Knights conclude their home portion of their slate with a two-game homestand starting on Wednesday, Feb. 19 as the Mavericks of Mercy University come to town. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm
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).
