Despite holding a ten-point lead in the second half, the Peahens were unable to close out the victory against the Marist Red Foxes, and fell 56-54 Monday evening. Saint Peter's trailed in the early going, but managed to maintain a lead against the defending MAAC Champs until the final two minutes of the contest. Had the Peahens won, it would have been the first time the team defeated the Red Foxes since the 2005-06 season. With the loss, Saint Peter's falls to 0-12, 0-1 MAAC, while Marist improves to 6-6, 1-0 MAAC.
Following a slow start for both teams, that saw only two field goals in three and a half minutes, the Peahens were able to put together a 5-0 run to establish a five point (11-6) lead at 13:44. Saint Peter's held the lead for under two minutes, until Marist responded with a 7-0 run of their own, to create an 18-11 advantage in the seventh minute.
The Peahens attempted to chip away at the Red Foxes' lead, but would not get closer than three points, on three separate occasions, in the first frame. Marist went into the half-time break ahead 25-21.
Saint Peter's shot 25.7% in the first half to Marist's 38.% percent, but did out-rebound the Red Foxes by a 23-19 margin.
Minutes into the second half, the Peahens came within one point (28-27) of Marist, behind a Quiana Porter layup. The Red Foxes attempted to hold off DeWolfe's squad, exchanging buckets with the home team to preserve the lead.
At the 16:45 minute mark however, senior guard Aminah Davis would drain a trey off the assist from Aziza May to tie the game at 30-30. The Red Foxes again retaliated with a made field goal, but Kristal Edward's three-pointer gave Saint Peter's their first lead at 33-32, since mid-way through the opening frame.
Quiana Porter followed up Edward's long distance bucket with two made free-throws to extend the Peahen lead to three (35-32) points just over a minute later. A layup from freshman Josefine vonUthmann on the inbound made the score 37-32 at 14:21.
Khadijah Young gave the home team their largest lead of the game (ten points) at 46-36, after she drained a three from the corner before the shot clock expired.
Saint Peter's maintained separation until the last five minutes, when Marist began to inch closer to recapturing the lead. The Red Foxes went on a 9-4 run to make the score 52-51 and force DeWolfe to call a time-out. The visitors came out of the time-out unfazed, and forged forward to rattle off four more points and go ahead 55-52.
The Peahens were unable to reestablish control of the game, and trailed for the conclusion of the contest. Adenike Oyesile did bring SPC within 1 at 55-54 after going 2-2 from the charity stripe with 38.9 seconds left, but Marist would close out the game 56-54.
For the game, Saint Peter's shot 32.2% from the floor and 35.7% from three-point range. Marist finished the game shooting 40.8%, and 22.2% beyond the arc. The Peahens finished with 44 boards, to Marist's 28- out-rebounding a team for the first time this season. Both teams committed 15 turnovers in the game- Saint Peter's second-lowest total this season.
Saint Peter's had a balanced attack on the offensive end, as every player, with the exception of Lovisa Hagberg, recorded a point. Jynae Judson and Quiana Porter each finished with 8 points, while Aminah Davis added 7 and Khadijah Young finished with 6. Aziza May finished with a game-high 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Marist was led by Brandy Gang who finished with 11 points and Kristina Danella added 10. Natalie Gomez contributed 7 points, 6 assists.
Saint Peter's returns to MAAC action this Wednesday, as they host the Fairfield Stags for a 7pm tip.
