The Saint Peter's College women's basketball team fell to the Canisius College Golden Griffins 59-54 Saturday afternoon. The Griffs jumped out in front 12-0, and held the Peahens scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, but Saint Peter's battled back to establish a second-half lead. With the loss, the Peahens fall to 0-14, 0-3 MAAC, while Canisius improves to 7-7, 1-2 MAAC.
The game started slow for both teams, entering the under-sixteen media timeout with a score of 4-0 in the Griffs' favor. Canisius's Kayla Hoohuli would soon drain back-to-back treys to put the Griffs ahead 10-0 at the 15:09 mark. The home team extended their lead to 12-0, before Jynae Judson registered the Peahen's first field goal of the game in the fourteenth minute.
Following made baskets by both teams, the Peahens continued to hold the Griffs scoreless for over three minutes, allowing them to get within five points by way of a Khadijah Young trey and a jumper by Aziza May. Saint Peter's came as close as three points several times in the half, however Canisius closed out the stanza with a 6-0 run to go into the break ahead 30-21.
Judson paved the way for the Peahens in the second half, scoring 8 of their first 12 points to bring SPC within two points at 35-33. Canisius's Jamie Ruttle gave the Griffs a four-point cushion following a thirty-second timeout by the home team, but Judson answered back with a two-pointer of her own just seconds later.
Saint Peter's took their first lead of the contest (38-37) at the 14:05 minute mark, after Khadijah Young drained a three pointer from the left wing.
Five lead changes soon followed, until the Griffs formed a 6-0 run to go ahead 53-48 with 2:12 left on the clock. Saint Peter's battled back, as seniors Adenike Oyesile and Jynae Judson went a combined 4-4 from the line to bring the Peahens back within 1 at 53-52, with just under a minute left in the second frame.
Canisius's Courtney VandeBovenkamp gave the home team yet another three-point lead with 41 seconds remaining, but Aziza May answered back with a layup to make the score 55-54, with 12 seconds left.
A technical foul was called on the Peahens with 11.7 seconds left, and Ashley Durham would knock down both free throws to make it a three-point game. VandeBovenkamp was fouled just a second later, and converted both her free-throws as well, to seal the 59-55 victory for Canisius.
For the game, Saint Peter's shot 32.3% from the field and 15.8% from three-point range (3-19). Khadijah Young made all of the Peahen's treys. The Golden Griffins shot 43.5% from the floor, and 15.0% beyond the arc. Saint Peter's out-rebounded the Griffs by a 39-34 margin and forced 17 turnovers, while committing 13.
Jynae Judson led Saint Peter's with a game-high 18 points, and added 3 steals, 2 assists and 5 rebounds. Kaydine Bent followed up her career-performance against Fairfield with a solid contribution of 8 points, 7 rebounds. Khadijah Young went 3-8 from long distance to record 9 points in the loss. The Griffs were led by Courtney VandeBovenkamp's 13 points and 7 rebounds. Jen Morabito (11 points) and Ashley Durham (11 points) also finished with double-figures for Canisius.
The Peahens will continue MAAC play on Monday, as they face-off against the Niagara Purple Eagles at 7pm.
