By Dylan Butler
Trailing 33-24 at the half, Jerry Ingenito followed his Queens College women’s basketball team into a classroom just off the court at Adelphi’s Woodruff Hall in Garden City, L.I. Sunday.
The Lady Knights head coach was too busy thinking about telling his team members they played well in the first half and what they needed to do in the second half to notice that starting point guard Natasha Lyons wasn’t there.
Lyons, a 5-foot-5 freshman from Elmont, was still lying prone on the court after being hammered in the closing seconds of the first half, one of several first half melees without a foul call. Trainers from both teams attended to Lyons for more than five minutes after the half ended before she finally rose to her feet.
A woozy Lyons was helped off the court and sat out the rest of the game with a concussion. Her mother took her to a hospital after the game as a precaution.
Without Lyons, Queens was lost offensively in the second half as the Lady Knights were beaten up physically and mentally in the 72-48 loss.
“The referees had no control of the game. They’ll tell you to look in the book and the calls are even, but it was a disgrace,” Ingenito said. “They told me [on Lyons’ injury] there was nothing there. That’s what it has to come to? Kids have to get hurt? There could have been a lot more injuries in that game.”
At times the game looked a lot more like a rugby scrum or WWF wrestling than a Division II women’s college basketball game. Players from both teams dived on the court after loose balls and picked themselves up after a bevy of hard fouls and more than a few non-calls.
“It was beyond what is normal physical play,” said Queens College senior forward Theresa Dollard. “It was mayhem at times. Both teams are really competitive and don’t want to back down so I guess it’s to be expected.”
Ingenito and the Lady Knights weren’t the only ones who thought the game was especially physical.
“It definitely got out of control at times,” said Adelphi’s Alexis Seeley, the NYCAC preseason player of the year. “Things just went crazy.”
Added Adelphi head coach Kim Barnes-Arico: “It was very physical and a lot of things went uncalled.”
Losing Lyons was an especially tough blow for a Queens College team that learned earlier in the week that starting shooting guard Janine Cappadona left the school. The 5-foot-8 freshman, who was fourth in the team averaging 7.1 points and led the team with 6.5 rebounds per game, transferred to Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J., a school not far from her Atlantic Heights home.
Forced to take the reigns of running the point in the second half was sophomore Erin Dollard. Adelphi (10-0, 6-0) went right after Dollard and guard Jessica Dlabola and Brianne MacArthur forced a slew of turnovers and turned them into easy transition points.
“That’s a lot of pressure on Erin,” Ingenito said. “They’re a good team and a smart team and they went for the jugular and attacked.”
On Theresa Dollard’s lone three-pointer of the game, Queens (3-6, 2-3) trailed by just eight early in the second half, but the Panthers went on a 19-6 run capped by Kelly Arthurs’ basket in the paint to put Adelphi ahead 56-35.
After being outrebounded 25-8 in the first half, Panthers post players Arthurs (12 points) and Jamie Douglas, who along with Dlabola scored a team-high 14 points, dominated the paint.
Adelphi, off to its best start in school history, also drove at will on Queens in the second half.
The only part of Adelphi’s game that didn’t click was its three-point shooting as the Panthers were 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
“We picked up our defensive intensity in the second half,” said Barnes-Arico. “I thought they killed us on the boards and were more aggressive and physical in the first half. That was something we needed to do in the second half.”
Theresa Dollard scored a game-high 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds but had nine turnovers and freshman forward Shonda Holder added 12 points and seven boards for Queens, which next hosts Dowling in a game scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m. before heading to Philadelphia University Saturday at 2 p.m.
Former Francis Lewis standout Eliana Armijos had 12 points off the bench and was one of four Adelphi players to score in double figures.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
