The Berkeley College New York women's basketball team won its second game in as many days, defeating the Bulldogs of Briarcliffe College by a score of 65-38 in a game played Friday evening at the Wellness Center on the campus of the College of New Rochelle. With the victory, the Knights moved to 13-7 on the season, while the Bulldogs slipped to 6-9.
The Knights controlled this game from the start, as Berkeley spent the first nine minutes of regulation building a commanding 18-4 lead. Senior point guard Janay Thomas accounted for six of those points, knocking down a pair of triples during that spurt. Berkeley would lead by as many as 21 points in the opening stanza (30-9) before taking a 32-16 edge into the locker room at halftime.
With 17:16 remaining in the game, rookie sensation Champagne Hazel knocked down a three-point basket to put her team up 40-19. The Bulldogs kept things interesting over the ensuing 4:03, though, going on a modest 8-0 run – capped by a trey by Shemique Hooks - to inch to within 13 down (40-27) with 13:13 left on the clock. The Knights' defense would tighten up from there, however, as Berkeley allowed just three opponent field goals the remainder of the game while outscoring Briarcliffe 25-11 down the stretch to account for the 27 point victory.
Leading the way for the Knights was senior Patricia Patterson, as she connected on seven of her 14 shot attempts while dropping-in a game-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Hazel nailed three triples and finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a pair of steals, and two swatted shots, and Janay Thomas netted 13 points, tallied game-highs of 10 rebounds and five assists, and collected three steals.
In a losing effort for the Bulldogs, Kiara Johnson scored a team-high 13 points while grabbing four rebounds and tallying three steals and Shemique Hooks added eight points and seven rebounds, as well.
Both teams struggled shooting the basketball, as the Knights hit on just 36.5 percent of their attempts from the floor for the evening (23-63) compared to just 22.2 percent for Briarcliffe (12-54). The Knights did a solid job converting at the charity stripe, draining 14 of their 21 attempts there (66.7 percent) compared to just 50 percent for the Bulldogs (11-22). Berkeley held a 56-36 rebounding edge, while also dishing 14 assists to only two for their opponents.
The Knights will return to action on Sunday afternoon, as Berkeley will take on NHTI at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. It will be Senior Day for the Knights, as four seniors – including Janay Thomas, Patricia Patterson, Katana Travis, and Milan Germany – will be honored in a special pre-game ceremony. Start-time for the game is scheduled for 1:00pm.
