The Berkeley College of New York women’s basketball team
picked up a hard-fought victory Monday evening, defeating the Cardinals of York
College by a score of 64-55 in a non-conference contest played at the York
College Gymnasium in Jamaica,
Queens. With the victory, the Knights improved
to 11-3 on the 2013-2014 season, while York
slid to 2-15 on the year.
The first half of action saw both teams battle
back-and-forth, with neither team taking more than a five point advantage (York led 7-2 with 16:13
remaining in the opening session). The squads combined for just 50 points in
the first 20 minutes of play, with the Cardinals taking a slim 26-24 edge into
the locker room at halftime.
Berkeley came out hitting on all cylinders in the second
half, as the Knights began the session on an 12-2 run to take a 36-28 lead with
15:11 remaining in the contest. Berkeley
did a tremendous job of controlling the tempo from there, never relinquishing the
lead the rest of the game. The Cardinals kept things close, pulling to within a
basket twice, but an 8-0 Knights run put Berkeley
ahead comfortably – 52-42 – with just over 4:30 to play. The Cardinals would
not recover from that spurt, and the Knights eventually held on for an
impressive nine-point win.
Three players scored in double figures for Berkeley, including senior
guard Aiyesha Brown who scored a game-high 24 points to go along with seven
rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Thomas dropped in 13 points while
collecting a game-high seven steals and dishing three helpers and Germany
knocked-down seven of her eight attempts from the charity stripe while
finalizing her evening with 12 points, five steals, and four assists.
The Cardinals held a staggering 51-28 edge on the glass,
but the Knights prevailed in two crucial categories by a large margin – free-throw
percentage and turnovers. Berkeley College made the most of its chances at the
line, nailing 19 of their 21 attempts from the charity stripe (90.5 percent),
while the Cardinals struggled all evening with their free throws, hitting just
11 of 22 (50 percent). The Knights also committed just 16 turnovers compared to
23 for York College.
Despite the loss for the Cardinals, it was junior center
Stayce Kay Muirhead posting a double-double with 15 points to go along with a
game-high 25 rebounds (including 12 on the offensive glass). Sophomore guard
Angelika Ruggiano posted team-highs in points with 16 and assists with seven
while also grabbing two rebounds.
The Knights will return to action on Saturday evening as Berkeley College
will host Briarcliffe at the College
of New Rochelle.
Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 4:00pm.
