The Berkeley College women's basketball team dropped its season opener on Friday evening, falling to the Eagles of the College of St. Elizabeth by a score of 74-57. The game took place at St. Joseph Hall in Morristown, New Jersey.
Despite the loss for the Knights, freshman Daniella Wood put together an incredible effort, as she tied for the game-high with 22 points, while leading all players in rebounds with 22, and blocked shots with two. The standout converted on 14 of her 17 attempts from the charity stripe, as her 36 logged minutes were more than any other player on the floor.
Freshman Lalibela Rigaud recorded nine points and eight rebounds on the evening, and newcomer Jordan Washington contributed nine points, four rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists. Veteran Ebony Lofton also finalized her evening with six points and five rebounds in 22 minutes of action.
In the victory for the Eagles, the College of St. Elizabeth was paced by Kamille Jacobs, as she tied for the game-high with 22 points. She also snatched seven rebounds and registered three assists. Rakiyah Sellers dropped in 15 points while accumulating a game-high six steals, and Dianne Nieves and Alani Jones recorded 10 points, apiece. Kamani Williams was a force on the glass for the Eagles, as she snatched a team-high 11 boards.
Things looked promising in the early stages of this one for the Knights, as Berkeley took an early 6-2 lead in the opening 3:03 of the game thanks to a pair of converted freebees by Wood, and two made layups by Lofton. St. Elizabeth would close out the first quarter with a 17-2 run to jump ahead by the score of 19-10 after 10 minutes of action.
In the second quarter, Sellers would bury a three-point basket 12 seconds into the period to catapult the College of St. Elizabeth to a 12-point advantage at 22-10. 1:05 later, was Jacobs converting on a shot from downtown to increase the Eagles lead to 15 at 25-10. The College of St. Elizabeth continued to gradually increase its lead, going up by as many as 22 before taking a 39-21 edge into the locker room at halftime.
Foul trouble limited the Knights in the second half, with four Berkeley College players eventually picking up five fouls and sub sequentially getting disqualified from the game. The Golden Eagles built a 30-point cushion early in the fourth quarter, before eventually advancing for an impressive 17-point triumph.
Neither team shot the ball well on opening night. Berkeley College converted on just 18 of its 64 shot attempts for the night (25.8 percent), while the Eagles weren't much more efficient, draining just 30.2 percent of their shots (25-87). Both squads failed to take care of the basketball, with the Knights committing 41 turnovers, compared to 31 for the College of St. Elizabeth. The Eagles did move the ball well when they did convert their baskets, as the College of St. Elizabeth racked up 18 assists on the night, compared to eight for Berkeley. The game also featured a combined 59 fouls on the night, resulting in five players fouling out.
Berkeley will have four days off before returning to the court for its next game, as the Knights will next travel to Brooklyn, NY to take on Pratt Institute on Wednesday evening. The contest will take place at the Pratt ARC, with start-time scheduled for 8:00pm.
