Flushing, N.Y. - On March 4, 2009, the Queens College women's basketball team began a playoff run that ended in the NCAA regional round. Five years later, on the same date, QC once again commenced a playoff run with a 76-64 win over Dowling in the East Coast Conference quarterfinal from Flushing, New York. Melissa Gardner and Madison Rowland each had double-doubles for the Knights.
Five years ago, the victim was STAC. In 2014, it was the Golden Lions who fell, both games saw QC win by 12-point margins. The 2014 version began with neither side mustering any kind of a commanding lead. In fact, a Kristen Korzevinski jumper seven-and-a-half minutes into action evened the score at 10-all. From there, Dowling took a 15-10 lead on a Krstina Surlan layup and a three-pointer from Christine Verrelle.
Queens eventually pulled even when Joya McFarland found Rowland for three and Elisabeth Gully scored off a Korzevinski feed. The Knights took the lead for good on a MacKenzie Rowland bucket at 2:15. They closed out the first half on a 6-0 run with the final two points coming when Kasheema Besley grabbed an offense rebound off a missed foul shot and buried a jumper. Queens led at the half, 30-24, and outscored the Golden Lions, 16-3 in second-chance points for the game.
Early in the second half, Dowling fought to within two, 34-32, courtesy of a Julia Koppl layup at 15:45. From there, QC pushed its lead to eight points, 42-34, using an 8-2 run over the next 2:05 of game time. Queens got four points from Madison Rowland and two points each from MacKenzie and Korzevinski. The Golden Lions got as close as six, but Queens pushed the lead to 13, its largest advantage of the game, when Gardner made a jumper inside of ten minutes.
Dowling got back to within two points, at 60-58, when Verrelle made a three-pointer at 3:27. But a basket from McFarland, less than a minute later, sealed the win for the Knights.
In the victory, Gardner had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Madison Rowland finished with 24 points and a dozen boards. QC outrebounded Dowling, 38-29.
The Queens College women's basketball team now faces UDC in the semifinal of the East Coast Conference championship. The game is slated for Thursday, March 6, at 7:00 PM, from Washington, D.C. The Knights will see if their luck from five years ago will be with them once again.
Provided by the Queens Sports Information Department.
