CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women's basketball team was back at home against Wingate University this evening to close the first round of South Atlantic Conference games. Queens fell 65-51 to the Bulldogs, bringing their overall record to 4-12 and their SAC record to 4-7. Wingate, ranked third in the league and eighth in the Southeast, improves to 12-4 on the season and 8-3 in the league with the win.
 
After getting off to a slow start offensively shooting just 25-percent from the floor in the opening 10 minutes of play, the Royals came back to shoot 52.4-percent for the remaining three quarters combined in tonight's game.
 
Maggie Stewart led the Royals with 12 points on six-of-seven shooting. She also totaled three rebounds and four assists. Sarah Henson added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while both Mendy McNeese and McKell Oliverio chipped in with nine points apiece.
 
With the score sitting tied at 4-4 with 5:11 on the clock in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs would put together a 14-0 run to lead 18-4 with just 24 seconds left in the period. A three-pointer from Oliverio ended Queens' drought at the close, giving the game an 18-7 score heading into the second.

Queens' Stewart opened the second quarter scoring six straight points for the Royals, helping them close the gap to nine on three different occasions. Following her last bucket at 6:03, Wingate's Shelby Tricoli knocked down a triple to spark a 7-0 spurt by the Bulldogs to give the visitors their largest lead of the half. Queens would have the last word of the half though as McNeese scored a three-pointer which was followed by a Henson jumper. The five-point swing sent the teams to the locker room with Wingate leading 29-18 at the break.
 
The Royals came out of halftime carrying the momentum from the end of the first. They would connect on three straight shots to cut the Bulldogs' lead to nine, 33-24, with 7:03 on the clock. However, another Wingate run would help the Bulldogs create a 19-point cushion, 43-24, with 4:09 to play in the third. Oliverio cut the Bulldogs' lead to 15, 50-35, with a bucket and two shots from the foul line with seconds left in the quarter, but a layup from Wingate's Marta Miscenko at the buzzer put the Bulldogs ahead 52-35 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Despite not being able to overcome the 17-point deficit at the end of the third, Queens shot an impressive 57.1-percent in the final quarter while also holding Wingate to just 13 points in the period.
 
Miscenko led Wingate with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Tricoli and Kristina Rumplasch totaled 11 points each.
 
Queens will head to Anderson University on Saturday, January 21 for a rematch with the Trojans. Earlier in the season the Royals fell 71-43 to Anderson at home. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.