Albany, NY ? The Saint Peter’s Peahens (19-11) defeated the Manhattan College Lady Jaspers (15-15) 68-65 in the first round of the MAAC Tournament. Senior Lauma Reke carried the load for Saint Peter’s with 19 points including the game winning three-pointer with seven seconds remaining. Gabrielle Cottrell proved to be a burden for the Peahens with 21 points on 5-8 shooting from beyond the arc. The win will advance Saint Peter’s to the Semifinals for the first time since the 2003-04 season where thy will face the nationally ranked Marist Red Foxes.
Saint Peter’s tried to control the tempo early on by setting up their half court offense while Manhattan tried to make it a “run and gun” game. The Peahens had an early 13-7 lead with a little 6-0 spurt but the Lady J’s battled back to knot it up at 13 midway through the first. Saint Peter’s went ice cold without a field goal in 5:02 giving Manhattan their first lead of the game at 15-13. The Jaspers started to catch fire as they hit two three-point shots after an and-1 play by Caitlin Flood to give them the largest lead of the half at 29-21 with 1:06 remaining.
Flood led all scorers with 11 points at the break. Reke revved up the Peahens with nine points. Manhattan did a superb job of holding Johnell Burts and Tania Kennedy with only two points between the two of them. Alena Ali and Natasha Morris poured in four points for the Peahens. Saint Peter’s shot 42% (10-24) while Manhattan posted a 53% (10-19) effort. The Lady Jaspers out rebounded the Peahens 16?12 at the end of the first stanza. Saint Peter’s also forced 17 Manhattan turnovers but could not capitalize.
Manhattan came out with a 7-1 run and looked to be in the driver’s seat taking a 36-26 advantage. Saint Peter’s cut the lead to four scoring the next six to make it 36-32 at the 15:09 mark. The Lady Jaspers led 54-45 at the half way point. The Peahens found new life finding their second wind to cut the deficit to two at 60-58 with four and change remaining. Saint Peter’s regained the lead 64-62 with 1:23 left in the game on a Morris jumper from the free throw line. Cottrell hit a money ball to put Manhattan ahead 65-64. Reke hit 1-2 to tie it up with 52 ticks left. Burts found Reke in the corner knocking in a three to take control 68-55 with six seconds. Manhattan took a timeout with 1.6 on the clock. The Peahens defense withheld the Jaspers desperation shot winning 68-65 in dramatic fashion.
Burts finished with nine points all in the second half while dishing out seven assists and grabbing seven rebounds. Charlene Riddick also added nine points with four boards. Role-players Cassi Bryant and Ali stepped up for Saint Peter’s as Ali netted a career high six points and Bryant posted a career high eight points. The Peahens held Flood under 20 points for the first time this season with 18 points. Kelly Regan also created some problems with 12 points. Saint Peter’s shot 48% (25-52) on the game while Manhattan shot a little better with 49% (24-49). The Lady Jaspers were +9 in the rebound margin 36-27 over the Peahens. The stat of the game: Turnovers ? Manhattan 24, Saint Peter’s 14.
Saint Peter’s will face the #24/#20 Marist Red Foxes on Saturday at 11:30am. This will be the third match up with Marist in less than 10 days. The Peahens hold a slight advantage in the series 15-11.