Three players finished in double-figures, highlighted by Aziza May's career high 29 points, to lead the Saint Peter's University women's basketball team (2-20, 2-9 MAAC) to their second win on the season over Canisius College (8-14, 5-6 MAAC), 74-65.
Saint Peter's trailed the Golden Griffins by three at the half-time break in the Koessler Athletic Center, but managed to out-score the hosts by a 46-34 margin in the second stanza to capture the come-from-behind victory.
"I was really proud of the girls for tonight's efforts", commented Acting Head Coach Tiffany Jones following the victory.
"After a bad first half we were able to make the corrections, play hard and execute. We continue to get better every day and are looking to build momentum heading into the tournament."
Aziza May finished with a career-high 29 points on 9-17 shooting (3-7 from 3-pt range), while adding 8 boards and 3 assists. The junior point guard scored 18 points in the second half alone.
Senior Kaydine Bent recorded her second career double-double, and second in as many games; finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds.
Kristal Edwards was second on the team in scoring; contributing 18 points (6-12 from the field), while picking up 7 steals and dishing out 3 helpers.
The Peacocks shot a torrid 51.9% from the floor in the second half; connecting on 14 of 27 attempted field goals.
In the opening frame, both teams came out of the shoot strong; combining for 18 points at the first media timeout, with the Peacocks leading 11-7 at 15:13. Aziza May led the way with 5 points, while Antonia Smith, Kristal Edwards and Kaydine Bent each added a basket.
The visitors came out of the TV timeout on a 6-2 run; capped by a conventional three-point play in transition by Edwards following a steal by freshman Bridget Whitfield (17-9). May tacked on a final point, sinking a free-throw at 13:10, before the Golden Griffins formed an 11-0 run to enter the under-8 media timeout leading 21-18.
Canisius would hold Saint Peter's scoreless for over six minutes, until a 10-foot jumper on the baseline by May made the score 21-20. The Griffs added a basket twenty seconds later, until a trey by Whitfield tied the score at 23 (6:17).
The Peacocks were out-scored 8-5 in the remaining minutes to head into the half-time break trailing 31-28.
For the half, Saint Peter's shot 34.5% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range and 71.4% from the line.
Aziza May scored a team-high 11 points in the stanza while grabbing three boards.
Canisius shot 37% from the field, 33.3% from long distance and 66.7% from the charity stripe. Both Ashley Wilkes and Tiahana Mills had 8 points for the Griffs.
Saint Peter's opened up the second half on a 6-2 run, knotting the score at 34. Four tied scores followed over the following four minutes, before back to back three-balls from Kristal Edwards and Aziza May gave the Peacocks separation at 48-44 with 13:11 left.
A layup by the Griffs' Allison Braun made it a two-point game, until Edwards netted five straight points for the visitors to open up a seven-point cushion. Canisius responded with five consecutive points of their own to get within a single basket once again, but a 6-0 Saint Peter's run gave the Peacocks an eight-point advantage (59-51).
Canisius threatened to come back, getting as close as 3 at 2:52, but May scored 3 of Saint Peter's next 5 points to put the visitors up 8 once again (66-58 @ 1:05).
The Griffs started the fouling early in attempt to claw their way back into contention, but the Peacocks went 11-17 from the free throw line in the last two minutes to seal the victory.
Overall, Saint Peter's shot 42.9% from the floor, 35.3% from three-point range and 69% from the line. Canisius shot 39.7%, 35.3% and 65%, respectively.
The Peacocks out-rebounded the Golden Griffins by a 40-36 margin. Both teams committed 16 turnovers in the game. 23 of Saint Peter's points came off of Griff miscues.
Canisius also had three players in double-figures; Ashley Durham (16), Ashley Wilkes (14) and Tiahana Mills (13).
Saint Peter's goes for a sweep of their upstate New York trip this Saturday, as they face off against Niagara at 4pm.
