Staff report

SALISBURY — It was supposed to be a breeze for Catawba’s women’s basketball team, but the Indians needed a blocked shot by Terri Rogers in the final seconds to secure a 63-60 win against struggling Queens.

Queens (4-14, 1-11) has shown few signs of life this season, but the Royals shot 48.8 percent and pushed the favored Indians (11-8, 9-3) to the limit in the South Atlantic Conference matchup at Goodman Gym.

Rogers scored 20, while Toni Tucker had 10 for the Indians.

Rogers was in serious foul trouble much of the night. That helped Queens stay close. Catawba played without Marshauna Butler (concussion), and Madi Hallman (foot) played limited minutes.

Coming off a great performance against Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Catawba stumbled out of the gate and trailed 12-7 after a quarter. That gave the visitors some confidence.

Rogers had 12 points by halftime and Tucker turned in a lot of solid plays. The Indians got back to 27-all at the break.

Catawba went by seven points with 3:29 remaining on a short jumper by Rogers, but still couldn’t put Queens away.

With a minute left, Catawba’s lead was down to 60-58, and the Indians were just trying to hang on.

Hallman made two clutch free throws with 33 seconds left for a 62-58 lead.

With Catawba leading, 62-60 with 14 seconds left, Morgan Franklin made a free throw for a three-point lead, but she missed her second shot, and Queens rebounded.

Then with five seconds left, Rogers blocked a driving shot, and Serena Brown secured the ball to clinch victory.

Lade Adepoju scored 23 points for Queens.

Catawba didn’t shoot well but had a 42-30 edge on the glass and a 25-20 advantage in the turnover column.

Catawba goes to Tusculum on Saturday.

QUEENS (60) — Adepoju 23, Eanes 13, Moore 12, McNeese 6, Blatnik 3, Wang 3.

CATAWBA (63) —Rogers 20, Tucker 10, Brown 9, Barnes 7, DeShazo 6, Hallman 4, Webb 3, Stanback 2, Franklin 2, Gardner.

Queens                12  15    18  15 — 60  

Catawba             7     20  13    23   —63