Box Score SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – St. Francis Brooklyn defeated Saint Peter's 48-36 in the consolation game of the Seton Hall Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday afternoon.
Hala Mostafa (Cairo, Egypt/Modern Narmer Language School) and Alyssa Velles (Franklin, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) paced the Peacocks (0-4) with nine points each. Samantha Meier (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) finished with a game-best 10 rebounds and two steals in the loss.
Velles was also named to the Seton Hall Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament team.
Eilidh Simpson paced the Terriers (2-4) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Jaymee Veney tallied 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting while Sarah Benedetti recorded 11 points in the victory.
St. Francis Brooklyn used a run in the first half to pull away for the victory and earn a third place finish in the tournament.
The Terriers opened up the game with a 3-pointer from Simpson at 19:45 to fuel a 5-0 start. Saint Peter's countered with a 5-0 run, capped off by a field goal from Rebecca Sparks (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck [Saint Francis]) at 13:36.
St. Francis regained the lead, scoring three unanswered points to take an 8-5 lead with 10:25 remaining in the half. Following a basket from Sajanna Bethea (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury), the Terriers scored three more consecutive points to extend their lead. After a basket from Bethea at 9:34, St. Francis finished the half on a 17-9 run to take a 28-18 lead heading into the locker room.
The Terriers opened up the second half with a 10-2 run, fueled by four points from Veney to hold a 38-22 lead with 12:52 remaining on the clock.
Saint Peter's responded, going on a 7-0 run, capped off by a layup from Bridget Whitfield (San Diego, Calif./La Costa Canyon) to trim the deficit to single digits. St. Francis countered with a run of their own, scoring eight straight points to lead 46-29 with 8:37 left in the game.
The Peacocks stopped the run with a 3-pointer from Velles at 6:57 and a free throw from Bethea at 6:23. Saint Peter's was not able to recover from the deficit, dropping the contest, 48-36.
Saint Peter's returns to action on Dec. 5, when the team takes a break from non-conference action to open up MAAC play at Niagara. Opening tip is slated for 6 p.m.
