JERSEY CITY, NJ - The Saint Peter's University women's basketball team kept the ball rolling Saturday night, improving to 3-0 in conference play after defeating visiting Canisius 69-53. With the win, the Peacocks sit alone at the top of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) leaderboards. The win marks the Peacocks' first 3-0 start to MAAC play since 1996-97, when the team went 14-0 and went on to win the MAAC regular season and championship titles.
Redshirt-senior
Kendrea Williams was on a mission Saturday night, pacing the team in scoring with 19 points while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 50 percent from deep range. The Piscataway native would also knock down four triples in the exchange. Williams was backed up by double-digit performances from classmate
Taiah Thornton and freshman
Ajia James, who each scored 11 points. Two Peacocks finished with double-digit rebounds including
Sky Castro and senior
Jessica Woods, who recorded 13 and 12 rebounds, respectively.
How It Happened
- The two sides found the basket from the jump Saturday night, as the score read 4-4 after one minute of play with the duo of Thornton and James contributing the first two Saint Peter's baskets.
- The Peacocks then jumped out to an 8-4 lead off shots from Thornton and Williams, which they held through the five-minute mark in the first quarter.
- The Golden Griffs tied the score at 8-8 with just under four minutes left in the frame, before going ahead 9-8 with a made free throw.
- Saint Peter's bounced back quickly though, finishing the first quarter with a 16-14 lead following a buzzer-beater from beyond the arc, courtesy of freshman Rachel Kuhl.
- After the nearly three minutes of action in the second stanza, the visitors gained a 19-16 lead as the Peacocks struggled to find the basket. An 11-4 run by Saint Peter's over the next three minutes of action, which culminated in a classic Williams triple, put the Peacocks back on top 27-23.
- Following a brief 5-2 Canisius run, which narrowed the Saint Peter's lead to 29-28, Williams would score five unanswered points including two shots from the line and a subsequent steal and three-pointer, putting the Peacocks up 34-28 with just under two minutes to go in the half.
- Three consecutive buckets from James, classmate Victoria Ikenasio, and graduate Jenna Clark in the final minute of second-quarter play would give the team a 40-30 lead heading into the break.
- The Golden Griffins struck first in the third quarter and started a 4-1 run, cutting the Peacocks' lead to 41-34 in the first two minutes. Canisius would turn this streak into a 14-1 run, taking a 44-41 lead midway through the third frame.
- The Peacocks would finally snap the streak and finish out the frame on a 6-0 run, including a Clark lay-up and free throws from Castro, James, and junior Binta Salawu, as the team entered the final 10 minutes leading 47-44.
- The teams alternated baskets to open the final period, scoring four points apiece until the Peacocks extended their advantage to 53-48 following a key jumper from Salawu.
- The Peacocks then went on a pivotal 9-2 run over the next minute and a half of play, concluding with a four-point play from Williams to give the Peacocks a 62-50 advantage.
- Another Williams triple a minute and a half later gave Saint Peter's their largest lead of the day at 65-50. Over the last minute of play, baskets from Woods and Thornton sealed the 69-53 victory.
Inside The Numbers:
- Saturday's contest is the fourth of the year in which Williams has led the Peacocks offense in scoring.
- Williams now has five double-digit performances recorded on the year, while classmate Thornton has four of her own.
- The game marks the second straight in which Castro has finished with 13 rebounds, and the third of the year with the same total. Additionally, the Queens native has now led the Peacocks in rebounds on four separate occasions this season.
- Woods's seven-point, 12-rebound performance serves as her Saint Peter's debut, following the recent blanket waiver instituted by the NCAA for Division I transfers.
- The Peacocks nearly doubled the Golden Griffins in rebounds Saturday, finishing with 53 compared to 29 from the visitors.
- Second-chance points played a large role in the victory, as the Peacocks scored 27 second-chance points to just six from the Griffs.
- Saint Peter's 42.5 percent shooting at the end of the first half is the team's strongest single-half shooting performance of the season to this point.
- At the conclusion of the first half, Saturday night's contest had seen 10 lead changes.
Up Next:
- The Peacocks remain in Jersey City for a rematch with the Griffs on Sunday, Dec. 20. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
