Postgame Press Conference
JERSEY CITY, NJ - The Saint Peter's University women's basketball team came away from its home-opener with a 78-77 win over the Morgan State Lady Bears on Tuesday. In a back-and-forth battle which saw 18 lead changes throughout the contest, the Peacocks were able to outlast their MEAC opponent to improve to 3-2 on the season. Redshirt-junior
Kendrea Williams paced the Peacocks offense in the contest, dropping a team-high 17 points while grabbing five rebounds and recording three blocks.
How It Happened
- The Peacocks started off the game down 4-0 before Taiah Thonrton put up the first points for Saint Peter's just over two minutes into the game.
- Williams put up the first Peacocks three-pointer of the night with just over five minutes left in the first quarter, bringing the score to 10-7 in favor of the Lady Bears.
- With 3:44 remaining in the opening stanza, Thornton made a hard drive inside and dropped in a contested layup, drawing a foul and sinking the subsequent free-throw.
- Williams went on to hit her second triple of the quarter with two and a half minutes left to give the Peacocks their first lead of the day at 17-16.
- With 8:15 remaining in the half, sophomore Phylina Holmes sunk her first bucket of the game and the first of the quarter for the Peacocks.
- With 6:43 left on the clock in the second quarter, Gabrielle Harris secured a key steal, which turned into two points from junior Yamel Abreu on the other end.
- Peacocks brought the score within four (26-30) halfway through the second quarter, following a successful layup plus the foul by Williams.
- Saint Peter's would head into the locker room at the half down by three, having cut the Morgan State lead to 40-37.
- During the first offensive phase for the Peacocks in the second half, Harris dropped her first triple of the day to even the score for the Peacocks at 40-40, followed by a layup a few moments later from Harris to tie the score yet again at 42-42.
- The Peacocks would regain the lead again three and a half minutes into the second half after a successful driving layup from Williams.
- With just over a minute left in the third quarter, sophomore Tyara McQueen came up with a huge steal as the shot clock ran out for the Lady Bears, and brought the ball the length of the floor, sinking a layup while adding on one after drawing a penalty.
- After a back-and-forth scoring streak by both teams late in the third quarter, senior Zoe Pero sunk a buzzer-beating layup to put the Peacocks up 60-59 heading into the final 10 minutes.
- Pero came out swinging in the fourth quarter, scoring the first four points of the final period for the Peacocks off a pair of layups.
- With just over two and a half minutes left in play, Williams knocked down her fourth shot from beyond the arc to put Saint Peter's up 71-67.
- Sophomore Briyanah Richardson would go on to hit the eventual game-sealing jumper with a mere 20 seconds remaining in the game to deliver the victory for the Peacocks.
Inside The Numbers:
- The Peacocks were down by as much as 11 points during the game, having trailed the Lady Bears 28-17 at the beginning of the second quarter.
- The Peacocks led for a total of seven minutes of the contest, with the largest span of time being 2:04 at the end of the fourth quarter.
- Saint Peter's had a strong day on the boards, tallying 28 defensive rebounds and 14 offensive, giving them a 42-40 advantage over the Lady Bears.
- Harris recorded her first double-double of the season against the Bears, dropping 12 points while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.
- Tuesday's game marks the second time this season that Williams has led the Peacocks in scoring and her fourth game of double-digit scoring.
- The Peacocks had four players eclipse the double-digit mark in Tuesday's game, including Williams (17), Harris (12), Richardson (12), and Thornton (10).
Up Next:
- The Peacocks head to nearby NJIT next week to take on the Highlanders on Dec. 4 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
