New York, New York – The BMCC women's basketball team continued their dominance at home on Tuesday night, registering their third straight victory at BMCC Gymnasium, 79-53, over CUNYAC opponent Queensborough Community College. The victory helps the Panthers lock up the third seed for the 2023-24 CUNYAC Community College Women's Basketball Championship as they improve to 6-11 (5-4 CUNYAC) while the Tigers drop to 6-11 (4-6 CUNYAC).

The Panthers got another balanced offensive effort on their home court, with four of their five starters scoring in double figures, two putting up double-doubles, and sophomore Emily Kennedy (Brooklyn, New York) posting up her third triple-double in her last four games. Kennedy led the Panthers in scoring with a team-high 23 points while dishing out a game-high 11 assists and grabbing 11 boards, the 11th coming with seven seconds left. Kennedy registered her team-leading third double-digit assist game of the season and her second in the last four contests while leading the Panthers on defense with a game-high six steals. 

Kennedy is currently fourth all-time with 593 career points, 135 career steals, and 130 career assists and ranks 10th all-time with 275 career rebounds. She is also 11th nationally in scoring average at 20 points per game and 12th with 320 points this season, which is also 11th most in a single season.

Kennedy has put up double-digit scoring efforts in all 16 games and 28 straight times dating back to the 2022-23 season, with 29 double-figure games in her last 30 contests while ranking in the top ten nationally in four statistical categories, tying for fourth in the nation with 85 steals, also fourth most in a single season, and averaging 5.3 steals per game which is also fourth nationally. She is also fourth nationally with 5.3 assists per game and her team-high 93 assists, which are good for fifth most in a single season and eighth in the country.

Freshman Sheliyah Jackson (Bronx, New York) posted her third double-double of the season, turning it on in the final two quarters to complete it by hauling down nine of her team-best 14 rebounds and scoring 10 of her 12 points, all in the second half while denying a game-high tied two shots. Classmate Kamella Ross (Bronx, New York) rang up her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow underclassman Stephany Coward (Queens, New York) chipped in with 11 points in the contest.

Freshman Patricia Perez (Brooklyn, New York), Mariah Wigfall (New York, New York), and Jania Simmons (Brooklyn, New York) all had six points, while Julianna Carrasco (Brooklyn, New York) had two.
 
The Panthers missed their third 80-point game of the season by one point and are lighting up the scoreboard at home in their last three contests, averaging 80.3 points per game. BMCC also took care of the basketball the best they have all season, registering a season-low 15 turnovers.
 
The Panthers spread the wealth on offense, dishing out 20 or more assists for the second time in three games with 24 dimes as five players recorded two or more helpers on the night. Coward and Jackson had three assists, Wigfall, Perez, and Simmonds each had two, and Ross had one.
 
The Panthers also gobbled up 20 or more steals for the fourth time in the last five games, snatching 23 in the game as seven players grabbed up two or more on the night as Wigfall had five steals, Coward vacuumed up three in the contest, and Ross, Jackson, Carrasco, and Simmonds all had two.  
 
Defensively, the Panthers continued to frustrate their visitors for the third straight home game, forcing 30 or more turnovers for the fourth time with 33 Queensborough turnovers and scoring 27 points off them. 
 
BMCC also outrebounded Queensborough Community College 53-49 on the night and held them to 21-of-70 from the field (30 percent), the second lowest of any opponent this season. The Panthers also controlled the scoring in the paint 40-22. 
 
The Panthers led throughout the entire contest as they came out firing in the first quarter with the first six points and building their lead to seven twice, 10-3 at 6:38 on a Kennedy jumper and 12-5, 31 seconds later on a Ross layup. The Tigers responded with the following six points to cut the lead down to one, 12-11 at 3:14 on a Shi Qi Yang jumper, but that was as close as they would get as BMCC finished the period on an 11-1 run capped off by a Wigfall layup with 12 seconds remaining to lead 23-12 after one.
 
BMCC pulled away in the second quarter, building their lead to double digits for the first time on the night 10, 28-18 at the 6:32 mark on a pair of Ross free throws, then got it to its largest of the first half, 19, 40-21 at 2:20 on a Jackson layup and went into the locker room in control at halftime with a 42-26 advantage.
 
The Panthers scored the first four points of the third to get the lead to 20 for the first time on the night by 21, 47-26 at 8:58 on a Jackson layin and led after three 58-42. BMCC got their lead to its largest of the night at 5:03 of the fourth quarter, 27, 73-46 on a Perez layup at the 5:03 mark, and cruised to the final horn with a 79-53 victory.
 
Queensborough Community College had two 20-point scorers on the evening as sophomore Nayla Walters led the way with a game-high 28 points and hauled down a monstrous 24 rebounds, while Sheila Da Silva scored 20 points in the contest. Walters also turned away a game-high tied two shots while Shu Qi Yang had two steals.
 
The Panthers will look to make it four consecutive wins at BMCC Gymnasium in their final home game of the season on Thursday, February 1, at 5:30 p.m. against Dutchess Community College. For more information, visit the BMCC Women's Basketball Schedule Page.



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The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of 13 varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us a https://bmccathletics.com - the official site of BMCC Athletics. Also, become a follower of the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and "LIKE" Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).