Box Score After battling back from a 20-point second half deficit, the Peacocks were able to come within four markers with twenty seconds remaining in the contest, but could not complete the comeback, and fell 73-66 to the Manhattan College Jaspers.
A 14-3 run by Saint Peter's brought the hosts within seven points with two minutes left to play, until the Jaspers reopened an 11-point advantage. The Peacocks continued to battle back however, coming as close as four points before time expired and Manhattan secured the seven-point victory.
With the loss, Saint Peter's drops to 0-12, 0-1 MAAC, while the Jaspers improve to 4-8, 1-0 MAAC.
"Our last four practices, in my opinion, have been our best all year. With a record like we have, sometimes a team can give up- but our girls keep fighting and getting better", commented Acting Head Coach Tiffany Jones following the loss. "We turned in a great shooting performance tonight, and if we would have played with the same intensity the entire second half I think we would have seen a different outcome", added Jones.
Four players finished in double-figures for the Peacocks, led by Kristal Edwards 17 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
Jesika Holmes recorded her second career double-double in the loss; netting 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Kaydine Bent just missed a double-double, finishing with 12 points, 9 boards.
Aziza May contributed 14 points (4 treys), 6 assists 2 steals.
The Peacocks opened up the first half with a 7-4 lead (18:11), until the Jaspers out-scored the hosts by a 6-3 margin over the next minute to knot the game at 10.
Four tied scores occurred in the following nine minutes, until the visitors formed a 10-0 run to establish their first double-digit advantage (39-29, 4:17) and force a Peacock timeout.
Saint Peter's managed to come within single digits on two occasions in the final two minutes of play to head into the half-time break trailing 35-43.
For the half, the Peacocks shot 44.8% from the field, 30.8% from three-point range and 83.3% from the line. Manhattan shot 54.8% from the floor, with more than half of their field goals coming from long distance. The Jaspers connected on 9 of 14 treys to finish the stanza with a 64.3% from beyond the arc.
The Peacocks were led by Kristal Edwards' 12 points on 4-8 shooting. Edwards added 3 assists and 2 steals in the frame. Jesika Holmes recorded 9 points (3-4 shooting) and grabbed 8 boards.
Saint Peter's netted just 7 points in the first fourteen minutes of play to begin the second stanza. During that time, the visiting Jaspers were able to outscore the Peacocks 19-7 to establish their largest lead of the game- a twenty-point advantage (62-42).
A 14-3 run by the hosts however, capped by 6 points from Kaydine Bent, made it a 7-point game at with 2:10 on the clock (58-65). The Peacocks managed to make it a single-digit deficit after Antonia Smith knocked down a three off the dish from Aziza May with less than three minutes to play (65-59).
Manhattan reopened a double-digit advantage with 1:33 remaining, after rattling off four consecutive points.
The Peacocks showed their resilience however, out-scoring the visitors by an 8-1 margin to come within four makers (70-66) with four ticks left to play, but Manhattan's Shayna Ericksen sealed with win, knocking down two free-throws in the final second of the game.
Overall, Saint Peter's finished with a 36.9% shooting percentage; connecting on 32.1% of their three-point field goal attempts. From the line, the Peacocks shot 81.8% (9-11).
Manhattan meanwhile shot 45.8% from the field, 46.2% from long distance and 53.7% from the line.
The Jaspers were led by Monica Roeder's 32 points. Roeder went 6-12 from long distance to account for half of Manhattan's made treys (12-26).
Both teams grabbed 38 rebounds in the contest, while the Peacocks committed 17 turnovers and forced 18.
Twenty-five of the Peacocks' points came off Jasper miscues.
Saint Peter's returns to action this Sunday, as they travel to Baltimore, Maryland to face Loyola.
