The
Canisius College women's basketball team built a 16-point second-half lead and
then held off Saint Peter's as the Golden Griffins won 60-56 in the Koessler
Athletic Center on Tuesday night. The Golden Griffins improve to 5-8 overall
and even their MAAC record at 1-1.
With
the win, Canisius coach Terry Zeh
earns his 109th win, setting a new program record. Zeh passes Sister
Maria Pares, who won 108 in her Canisius career.
Senior
Micayla Drysdale led Canisius with
15 points and also had five rebounds in 34 minutes. Sophomore Ashley
Durham had nine points while freshman Jamie
Ruttle also had nine points.
"We're
not sure on how to win in all different scenarios. We went up 16 and took a
little breath, but it's still a conference win and you take it," Canisius coach
Terry Zeh said. "Playing Saint
Peter's is a different style and those wins aren't pretty all of the time."
Saint
Peter's went up 10-4 early after a layup from Jynae Judson just under five
minutes into the game. Canisius would score nine unanswered points to turn a
12-8 deficit into a 17-12 lead after a layup from Ruttle. The Griffs held the
Peahens without a field goal for more than eight minutes, taking a 23-13 lead
after a 3-pointer from Ruttle. The Peahens scored eight straight points to get
within two points at 23-21, but the Griffs took a four-point lead into the
locker room.
The
Griffs built the 46-30 lead by opening the second half on a 17-5 run, holding
Saint Peter's to one field goal in the first nine minutes of the second half. A
3-pointer from sophomore Allison Braun
gave Canisius the 16-point advantage. Saint Peter's wouldn't go away quietly
and worked its way back into the game, scoring seven straight to make it 46-37.
Layups from freshmen Jen Lennox and Courtney VandeBovenkamp put Canisius up
50-37.
Canisius
held a 54-44 lead after junior Steph
MacDonald split two free throws, but the Peahens would get within three
after their only 3-pointer of the game. Khadijah Young made a 3-pointer to make
it 56-53 with 1:13 left. Canisius got a turnaround jumper from Drysdale with 38
seconds left to go up by five and two more free throws from Drysdale put the
game away.
Aminah
Davis led Saint Peter's (1-12, 1-1 MAAC) with 12 points while Judson had 11
points and nine rebounds.
Canisius
returns to the road for two MAAC games this weekend, starting at Loyola on
Saturday. Game time in Baltimore is set for 2 p.m.
Notes:
Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 498
games on a 3-pointer by Durham in the first half... Canisius has won eight
straight over Saint Peter's in the Koessler Athletic Center and three straight
overall... Canisius is 1-1 through two MAAC games for the third time in the last
four seasons... Canisius improved to 23-16 under Zeh in MAAC games decided by
five points or fewer... Canisius also improved to 97-7 under Zeh when leading or
tied with five minutes left... Drysdale matched her season high with 15 points,
reaching the total for the third time this season... The Griffs matched a season
high with 23 made free-throws, also occurring in the win at Colgate... Canisius
improved to 4-0 when leading or tied at the half... MacDonald had a career-high five
steals... Canisius had a season-high 10 steals in the game... The 16-point second-half lead was the largest second-half lead of the season for the Griffs... The game will air on tape delay on Time Warner SportsNet at 5 pm on Wednesday
