The Berkeley College New York women's basketball team lost its fourth consecutive game, falling to the Cardinals of York College by a score of 55-49 Friday evening in a game played at the Wellness Center on the campus of the College of New Rochelle. With the loss, Berkeley slipped 11-6 on the 2014-2015 campaign, while the Cardinals improved their mark to 7-11.
The Knights took a 4-0 lead in the opening two minutes of the game thanks to a converted jumper by Katana Travis and a made basket by standout Champagne Hazel. York College answered with made baskets by Samantha Bond and Shanelle Baldwin on back-to-back possession to knot the game at four-apiece just 4:49 into the contest. A little over a minute later, Janay Thomas hit a jumper to put Berkeley back on top 6-4, but York owned the remainder of the half, out-scoring the Knights 25-13 for the rest of the period to take a 29-19 edge into the locker room at halftime.
When play moved to the second half, York College went up by as many as 11 points on two separate occasions, taking leads of 38-27 and 40-29 before Berkeley began its surge. Down 40-29, the Knights' Kadesha Layne would make a layup, and that was followed by a three-point basket by Hazel to inch Berkeley to within six points with 11:22 left on the clock. 23 seconds later, York College's Shauncia McClendon would hit two free throws to give the Cardinals an eight point edge at 42-34, but an 11-3 run by Berkeley College over the ensuing 6:06 – capped by a driving layup by Patricia Patterson – knotted the game at 45 apiece.
On York College's next possession, McClendon would bury a layup to help the Cardinals retake the lead at 47-45. Following that, the Knights would fail to tie or take the lead on two consecutive possessions, and York's Angelika Ruggiano would hit a jumper on the Cardinals' next trip down the floor to increase her team's lead to four points. The Knights would pull to within two points twice after that (49-47 and 51-49), but Berkeley was never able to get any closer than that, as the Cardinals scored the game's final four points to account for their six point victory.
The short-handed Knights were paced by Patricia Patterson, as she posted a double-double despite the loss, knocking down six of her 13 attempts from the floor and finalizing her evening with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Standout Champagne Hazel contributed a game-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, a game-high five steals, and four assists, and Janay Thomas added 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
York College was led in its victory by Angelika Ruggiano, as she dropped-in a team-high 14 points while snatching four rebounds and tallying four assists. Tamika Taylor contributed 13 points while snatching eight rebounds and collecting three assists, and Samantha Bond finished her night with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Neither team was able to establish consistency offensively, as the Knights accounted for just 22 made baskets on 77 attempts from the floor (28.6 percent). York College connected on 23 of their 61 shots, a conversion rate of 37.7 percent. The teams pulled down 50 rebounds apiece, and the Knights committed just 15 turnovers while forcing 22 York College miscues. The Cardinals held slight edges in the assist (12-11) and fast-break point (14-8) departments.
The Knights will look to get back in the win column on Monday evening, as Berkeley will take to the road to battle the Bears of St. Joseph's College in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. Start-time for that game is scheduled for 7:00pm.
