The Berkeley College women's basketball team (0-1) put forth a valiant effort in its season-opening game on Friday evening, but the Knights ultimately came up shot, falling to the Broncos of SUNY-Delhi by a score of 63-48 in a game that took place in Delhi, NY. Following the game, Head Coach Alex Kuchar gave his thoughts on his team's showing.
"We lost a tough one here this evening, but I was happy with the display put on by these student-athletes," Kuchar said. "We defended well, and played hard. We're still a little inexperienced on offense, and that showed tonight against a team that already had played six games coming in. I thought the Broncos did a very good job, as they stayed poised all the way through. We have a long way to go, but I'm very optimistic about our prowess for the season."
The Knights raced out to an early 5-0 lead in this one, as newcomer Ayana Ratliff connected on a jumper 12 seconds into the contest, and a little over a minute later, Ashley Duplan buried a three-point basket. After a 9-0 run by SUNY Delhi put the Broncos put by four, Berkeley College ran off four consecutive points (converted layups by Ebony Lofton and Ratliff) to tie the game at nine apiece. The Broncos would grab the lead again thanks to a Camryn McDonald layup, and SUNY Delhi extended that advantage to our when Zhane Smith drilled a jumper to make it 13-9. The Knights would close out the first quarter on a 6-0 run to grab a 15-13 edge as time expired on the period.
SUNY Delhi would recorded 13 of the first 15 points on the second quarter to open up a 26-17 lead, and the Broncos would go up by as many as 11 points (30-19) before taking a 32-23 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter – with Berkeley College trailing 39-30 – the Knights would go on a 7-0 run to close the gap to two. Those seven points came courtesy of five consecutive points by Ratliff (two layups and a converted free throw), and made layup by veteran Crystal Miller. That aforementioned run spanned 2:43. After the Broncos would get four of those points back to make it 43-37, Miller would drain two free throws with 13 seconds left in the third quarter to pull Berkeley to within four 43-39. That would be the score as the third quarter came to a close.
The Knights ran out of gas in the fourth period, as SUNY Delhi would outscore Berkeley College by a margin of 20-9 in the contest's final 10 minutes, as the Broncos advanced for a 15-point win. Berkeley College only converted on four field goals in the final quarter, while also turning the ball over eight times. SUNY Delhi shot 41 percent from the floor in the fourth (7-17) while out-rebounding the Knights 13-6 in the period.
Despite the loss for Berkeley College, Ratliff led all scorers with 21 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds and swatting a game-high three shots. Muller and Lofton added eight points apiece, and Jaiyamora Myers collected a team-high four steals.
In the victory for SUNY Delhi, Samiaya Salley led the game with 20 points, while McDonald posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Katei Herba contributed eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Kiera Holland netted 15 points.
The Broncos shot 36.8 percent from the floor (25-for-68), while Berkeley College converted on 33.3 percent (20-for-60) of its shots for the evening. SUNY Delhi also led out-rebounded the Knights by a margin of 51-37, while scoring 24 points off turnovers compare to 14 for Berkeley College. The Knights turned the ball over 25 times compared to 23 for the Broncos.
Berkeley will return to action tomorrow afternoon, as the Knights will take on the Apprentice School. The game will take place at SUNY Delhi, as tip-off is scheduled for noon.
