FLUSHING, N.Y. – Sophomore Madison Rowland (Cohoes, N.Y.) totaled 21 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and four steals to lead Queens College to a 68-61 victory over Daemen College here today in East Coast Conference action.
Daemen has now lost four-straight games and fell to 8-10 overall and 5-7 in the ECC. Queens, which is ranked fourth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll, has won five of its last six games and improved to 15-4 overall and 10-2 in the league.
Four of Daemen's five starters scored in double figures. Sophomore Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) led the way with a career-high 22 points and six rebounds. Junior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) canned three three-pointers and totaled 13 points, five rebounds and three steals. Stilwell now stands just five points shy of becoming the 22nd member of Daemen's 1,000-Point Club. Freshman Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) added 12 points, six boards and four assists, while senior Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y./Niagara University) contributed 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five blocks.
Rowland, last year's ECC's Rookie of the Year who entered the game ranked second among the ECC scoring leaders (20.5 ppg), connected on 10-of-19 shots in the game. Junior Imani Davidson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) helped the Queens cause with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Queens scored the first 11 points of the game and the hosts later took a 20-7 lead following a jumper by junior Amber Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) with 11:48 left before halftime. The Knights took their largest lead of the first half, 29-14, following a bucket by Rowland with just over five minutes left in the half, but the Wildcats closed out the half with 15 unanswered points and Stilwell's buzzer-beating three-pointer knotted the game at 29-29.
The teams traded baskets for the first four minutes of the second half and the game was tied at 37-37 when the Knights erupted for 11 unanswered points over the next two minutes. A layup by junior Kristen Korzevinski (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) with 14:02 left to play capped the spurt and gave the hosts a 48-37 lead. Daemen quickly cut the lead to six points following a jumper by Saba and a three-pointer by Stilwell, but the Knights countered with a decisive 11-2 run over the next four minutes. A bucket by Rowland with 9:36 left capped the run and gave Queens a 59-44 lead. Daemen came no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Queens rebounded from a poor shooting performance in the first half (13-for-40) and shot 47-percent (16-for-34) over the final 20 minutes. Daemen shot 44-percent from the field in each half and finished 23-for-52 from the field overall. The Knights finished with a 47-32 edge in total rebounds—including a 22-5 advantage in offensive rebounds—which resulted in a 17-10 advantage in second-chance points.
Daemen is idle until Friday (Feb. 6) when it hosts the University of the District of Columbia in an ECC game at 6 p.m.
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