CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte women's basketball team welcomed Catawba College to Curry Arena this evening, falling 72-48 to the Indians. The Royals now sit at 4-20 on the season and 4-15 in the league, while Catawba improves to 14-10 on the year and 11-8 in the SAC.
 
Maggie Stewart led the Royals with 12 points after shooting a perfect six-of-six from the floor this evening. Hailey Riffe added 11 points off the bench, while McKell Oliverio added seven points. As a team, the Royals shot 43.9-percent from the floor and 44.4-percent from the three. Queens also shot 80-percent from the foul line tonight.
 
Catawba used hot shooting, connecting on six-of-eight from behind the three-point line to lead 22-8 at the end of the first quarter. Following a pair of layups from Queens' Maggie Stewart, Catawba went on a 13-2 run to build their lead heading into the second.
 
The Royals turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter, holding the Indians to just one point in the first five minutes of the period while cutting Catawba's lead to nine thanks to six straight points from Sarah Henson. Catawba would not score a field goal until 4:56 when Alexis Newbold connected on a jumper in the paint that put the Indians ahead 25-14. Her bucket would spark a 13-1 run that gave the Indians a 36-15 lead at the halftime break.
 
Queens pulled within 17 on a jumper from McKell Oliverio with 6:50 to play in the third, but that was as close as they would get to the Indians who went on to extend their lead to 28 points, 56-28, heading in to the final 10 minutes of play.
 
The Royals saw a chance to cut into the Indians' lead once again in the fourth as Catawba opened the quarter scoreless. However, Queens was only able to pull within 21 before Catawba was able to get back into their offensive rhythm and take the win
 
Madison Hallman led Catawba with 17 points, while Bri Johnson added 15 points. Serena Brown chipped in with 12 points. Catawba shot 49.1-percent from the floor. They also scored 34 points off of Queens' 30 turnovers.
 
Queens will be on the road this weekend, traveling to No. 11 Lincoln Memorial University. On January 9 the Royals played the then top-10 ranked Railsplitters to a 10-point game, falling 70-60 at home. Saturday's game will tip at 2 p.m.