By Michael Otero
Staff Writer
On Saturday, Jan. 25, the women’s basketball team (12-4) squared off against the Queens College Knights (11-5), and the Pioneers came out victorious 74-64. The first half featured a plethora of ties and lead changes as the scoring was practically evenly distributed between the two sides. Led by a second-half surge, the Lady Pioneers were too much for the Knights to handle.
The back and forth battle between the two sides was no better exemplified than by the eight ties in the first half. In addition to the ties, neither team led the other by more than four points,
so both teams were in striking distance to take control of the game. Freshman guard Madison Rowland, who scored 15 points in the first half on 6-9 shooting, led the Knights. She was also a thief on the defensive end with four steals. The scoring for the Lady Pioneers was well distributed, as four players had five points or more going into the half. At halftime, the Pioneers were up by two.
Wanting to pull away in the second half, the Pioneers came out inspired. Early in the second half, the Pioneers went on an 11-0 run led by junior guards Ariana Ijaduola and Chelsea Williams. That run by the Green and Gold put them up by nine points, and gave the Pioneers a lead that they did not relinquish.
The second-half surge was provided by a big game from Williams, as she poured in 16, giving her 22 for the game, which led the Lady Pioneers. Williams also grabbed eight boards to lead the squad as well. Senior forward Shayna Gatling scored ten points in the second half to give her 16 for the game. Senior Guard Alexa Peters added four assists in the second half, as the Pioneers put all hopes of a comeback to sleep.
For the Knights, freshman forward Mackenzie Rowland finished with 30 points and was one steal shy of picking up a double-double. Rowland scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
As a team, in the second half, the Lady Pioneers shot 52 percent from field as compared to the Knights, who shot under 50 percent. In addition to their field goal percentage, the Pioneers drew a lot of fouls, going to the charity stripe 21 times and knocking down 17 of them. On the Pioneers’ current seven game win streak, they are outscoring their opponents by over 16 points a game.
Coach Moore and the Lady Pioneers are back in action on Friday, Jan. 31, when they face off against the Daemen College Wildcats from Amherst N.Y. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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