MISENHEIMER, NC – The Queens women's basketball team fought hard, but could not pull out the Conference Carolinas win Thursday night in Merner gymnasium against the Pfeiffer Falcons. After going into the locker room at half time tied 31-31, the Falcons gained the lead and managed to hold the Royals at bay until the final horn sounded. Pfeiffer prevailed by one point with a final score of 79-78.
The Falcon women came out strong and took the lead in the first 15 seconds of the game. Pfeiffer kept that lead until Queens managed to tie the score at 16-16 with 8:40 left in the half with two free throws made by Shakaria Hamlin (Hartsville, S.C., Hartsville). Four minutes later the Falcons regained the lead with a three-point shot made by Jamila Harris (Danville, VA). The teams battled back and forth breaking through another tie at 24-24 with 3:31 left. After trading a couple field goals and free throws, the period ended at 31-31.
Pfeiffer led for approximately 10 minutes of the second half leading by no more than seven points at any time. By the 7:00 mark Queens battled back and took the lead going up 61-62 off of a free throw made by Erin Goldner (Matthews, N.C., Piedmont). Goldner went 11-for-14 at the charity stripe during the game.
Pfeiffer and Queens made it their business to trade twos and free throws throughout the rest of the game. The lead changed hands eight times in the final seven minutes. In the last minute of the game with Pfeiffer up 79-77 the Royals tried to tie the game up three times with a field goal, but were unable to do so. They earned one more point when Shakendra Hicks (Rock Hill, S.C., Rock Hill) was fouled and she sank only one of her two free throw attempts.
Down by one with one second left, Marissa Hudley (Charlotte, N.C., Harding University ) attempted to shoot through heavy defense, but was unable to connect. Pfeiffer celebrated a 79-78 victory when the buzzer sounded.
In a game that saw 16 lead changes and eight ties, the Falcons shot 44.3 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from the arc, which edged out the Royals who shot 41.5 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three point range. Pfeiffer was also better at the line shooting 74.1 percent, as compared to Queens' 65.7 percent. Pfeiffer won the rebounding battled 42-39.
Hudley led all scorers with 20 points. She also totaled five rebounds and two blocked shots. Goldner added 17 points for the Royals. She was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. Allison Williams (Rougemont, N.C., Northern Durham) contributed 12 points and three rebounds.
Shanee Purnell (Woodbridge, VA) and Nicole Maready (Advance, NC) lead Pfeiffer with 17 points each. Maready brought down seven rebounds and Purnell tallied five. Both women had two assists. Also ending the night in double digits was Harris, who added 14 and had five rebounds.
The Falcons earned their fifth win of the season to improve to 5-17 overall and 4-12 in conference play. The Royals drop to 11-11 overall and 10-7 in the conference.
Queens hosts Converse College on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2pm.
