CHARLOTTE – The Hatters appeared to have picked up a road win when
Jordan Peete swished a three-quarter court desperation three but were denied after official review overturned the call on the floor. With that decision, Stetson women's basketball fell to ASUN newcomer Queens, 77-75, Saturday afternoon at Curry Arena.
SU got off to a slow start falling behind the Royals, 3-0, before starting to gain traction. The Hatters went on an 11-0 run to gain the advantage [17-10] with
Jaelyn Talley leading the way with six points in the first half. Queens kept it close after one quarter, with Stetson posting a three-point advantage, 19-15.
The Hatter offense set the tone in the second quarter with a jumper by
Khamya McNeal followed by a three-pointer from
Maddie Novak as the Hatters lead swelled, 28-15 after the run concluded. Stetson continued to stretch their lead to 14 [42-28] with a jumper from
Mali Morgan-Elliott with only twenty seconds left in the first half, as that score line held out to the midway point.
Queens started to close the margin with a 7-0 run to start the second half and continued to close the gap, going back-and-forth with the Hatters. McNeal started the third quarter strong scoring her 15th point at the 5:29 mark as she completed a three-point play the hard way. Stetson held off a surge by the Royals as they got within two possessions, 55-50, with almost a minute left in the third quarter, Stetson kept the lead ending the quarter with the same margin, 57-52.
The Royals continued to gain momentum and tied the game at 69-69 at the 4:03 mark. After a timeout,
Anabel Ellison answered with a three-pointer to gain the lead once again. Even after an extensive stretch of back-and-forth play Queens tied it up 75-75 with 3.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. With only 1.4 seconds left in the match, the Royals leading 77-75,
Jordan Peete fired a desperation heave and made a three-quarter court shot that was originally ruled a buzzer-beater made basket to win the game, but officials later ruled that the shot was after time had expired, resulting in a final score of 77-75 in favor of Queens.
McNeal led the Hatters with 22, with Talley dropping a career-high 20 points and Ellison [11] also hitting double figures.
Kiya Turner paced the team in rebounds [7] for the fifth time this season. In addition to leading in scoring, McNeal collected six rebounds with a game-high five assists. Skyler Treadwell grabbed three steals, a team high.
The Hatters return home to play Bellarmine Thursday with tipoff at 7 pm. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+.
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF).
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