JERSEY CITY, NJ - The Saint Peter's University women's basketball team dropped their final non-conference game of the 2019-20 campaign after a fierce bout with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Sunday afternoon at the Yanitelli Center.
The back-and-forth affair featured torrid scoring runs by both sides, but in the end, despite holding leads at the half and at the end of the third quarter, Lehigh came out on top by a 80-71 margin. Redshirt junior
Kendrea Williams had her best performance yet as a Peacock, dropping a team-high 31 points while shooting 6-for-10 from beyond the arc.
How It Happened
- Williams put the first points on the board for the Peacocks after drawing a foul early in the first quarter, sinking the subsequent free throws.
- Taiah Thornton and Williams would combine for the first eight points from the Peacocks.
- Junior Yamel Abreu hit her first shot of the day late in the first quarter to cut Lehigh's first-quarter lead to 20-14.
- Sophomore Briyanah Richardson sent the Peacocks into the first break on a high note, hitting a buzzer-beater triple at the end of the first quarter, bringing the score to 22-17 in favor of the Mountain Hawks.
- Williams opened the second quarter with one of her signature shots from the corner off an assist from Richardson, cutting Lehigh's lead to four.
- Richardson would then hit two consecutive shots before Tyara McQueen evened the game at 26-26 following a successful layup.
- After trailing by five going into the second quarter, the Peacocks went into the locker room with a five-point lead (44-39) after a 27-point explosion in the second quarter.
- Saint Peter's would go scoreless for the first two and a half minutes of the second half until Thornton put up a shot inside the paint to regain the 46-45 lead.
- Richardson came up with a clean interception with seven minutes left in the third and was able to send a slick assist to Williams, who knocked down the three-pointer from the corner. Gabrielle Harris made her first shot of the day on a driving layup halfway through the third quarter, as the Peacocks went into the final break with a one-point lead.
- Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, sophomore Wil'lisha Jackson converted on a crucial free throw after drawing a foul on a layup, extending the Peacocks' lead to 69-65.
- However, the home side saw the Mountain Hawks go on a game-deciding scoring run and went without a basket for much of the remainder of the game, as the Peacocks were held scoreless until 1:27 remaining in the game. By the time Jackson hit a layup to end that drought, Saint Peter's was already behind by double-digits and eventually settled for the nine-point defeat.
Inside The Numbers:
- Williams' 31 points represent the best offensive performance by any Peacock this season.
- The Peacocks hit eight three-pointers on the day, with six of those coming from Williams.
- The Peacocks were down by as much as 14 points in the first quarter after falling behind 20-6 early before gaining the lead in the second quarter.
- As has been a theme thus far this season, Richardson led the Peacocks in assists, dishing out five helpers in Sunday's game while also grabbing a team-high six rebounds.
- Saint Peter's experienced an offensive explosion throughout the second and third quarters, scoring 27 and 22 points during the periods, respectively.
Up Next:
- The Peacocks will head north to Poughkeepsie next weekend to begin MAAC play against Marist on Saturday, Jan. 4, in a 7 p.m. matchup.
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