By Dylan Butler
The victory, the Lady Knights' second in a row, avenges a 61-49 loss to the Golden Lions Jan. 14 at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
“This is the way we should be playing,” said junior forward Theresa Dollard, who scored a game-high 16 points. “The last time against them, it wasn't really us. This was the way we wanted to come out the first game.”
Queens (7-8, 6-4) did a great job defensively, not allowing an explosive Dowling team a chance to get out on the break or to set up offensively, holding it to 14 points below its season average.
The Golden Lions didn't get many open shots and managed to shoot just 27 percent (16-for-59) from the field, including 25 percent (5-for-20) from beyond the arc. They weren't much better from the foul line, shooting 55 percent (11-for-20).
“We locked them down, that was the most important thing,” Ingenito said. “We matched their intensity and toughed it out. We let them run their offensive sets and then took it away. They didn't get anything from their sets.”
The Lady Knights also did a good job of getting an early lead and never letting it go. Queens led from the opening tip and went ahead 19-13 on an Erin Dollard three from the left wing with six minutes left in the first half.
Dowling (8-6, 7-3) fought back and cut the Lady Knights' lead to three, 25-22 on a tip-in by Cherese Hinckson at the first-half buzzer.
But the Lady Knights didn't miss a step in the second half, scoring the first six points, including four by Elena Rakova, to extend their lead to 31-22.
“We played with a lot of intensity, listened to coach and we really disciplined ourselves,” said Rakova, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. “Some games we play only 25 to 30 minutes. Today we stayed in it for 40 minutes.”
Leading 39-34, the Lady Knights outscored Dowling 14-2 over the next six minutes. Two free throws by Theresa Dollard gave the Lady Knights their largest lead of the game, 52-36 with 3:50 left in the game.
Queens, which shot 40 percent from the field, excelled on the line, going 27-for-38 (71 percent) from the free throw line, led by Theresa Dollard, who was 12-for-15.
“After the Adelphi loss we went into a slump. This gets us back up,” Theresa Dollard said. “We know we're right there, we knew we could play with them, but now I think we're proving it to other people.”
Erin Dollard had 10 points and six rebounds, and did a great job of finding older sister Theresa on back-door cuts, which usually led to fouls and made free throws.
Kerri Graham had a strong game inside, with nine points and five boards before fouling out. After being outrebounded last Saturday, Queens held a 42-34 edge on the boards. Da'Shawn Coleman led the Golden Lions with 10 points.
Notes: Senior point guard Anica Gant left the team Saturday for personal reasons. Gant, who played in nine games and averaged 6.0 points and 2.2 assists per game, is not expected to return…After a road game at Southampton Wednesday, the Lady Knights play a home-and-home with New York Tech Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Fitzgerald Gymnasium and Monday at 7 p.m. at New York Tech.
