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Canisius University Athletics

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Vannessa Garrelts dribbles the ball and calls for a play against Saint Peter's on Jan. 5, 2023
Ken Morey
74
Saint Peter's SP 0-13,0-4 MAAC
79
Winner Canisius Canis 6-8,3-2 MAAC
Saint Peter's SP
0-13,0-4 MAAC
74
Final
79
Canisius Canis
6-8,3-2 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Saint Peter's SP 14 14 21 19 6 74
Canisius Canis 16 15 18 19 11 79

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Stymies Saint Peter's in Overtime

Graduate student guard Vannessa Garrelts forced overtime off a 3-pointer with less than five seconds to play in regulation before the Canisius limited Saint Peter's to just six points in the extra frame to post a 79-74 victory in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women's basketball action Thursday at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo N.Y.
 
The Golden Griffins (6-8, 3-2 MAAC), were led by Garrelts and junior guard Dani Haskell who each had 16 points with Garrelts leading the team in rebounds with six while Haskell led the Griffs in assists with five. Senior guard Jane McCauley notched all 15 of her points from beyond the arc while freshman forward and reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week Sisi Eleko added in 11 points of her own.
 
Amaris Mills paced the Peacocks (0-13, 0-4 MAAC) with 23 points. Jada Williams added in 15 points with Tiara Bellamy chipping in 14 points. Williams and her teammate, Jada Leonard, also were tied for game-high honors in rebounds with seven apiece.
 
Down 68-65 with less than ten seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, McCauley inbounded the ball to Garrelts, who moved past her defender and fired off a make from beyond the arc to tie the game 68-all and force overtime.
   
In the first overtime period of the season, the Griffs continued their momentum from the end of regulation as it scored the first 11 points of the extra session, starting with Garrelts' game-tying basket and continuing over the opening 2:45 of the extra period to take a 76-68 lead. Leading the charge was Garrelts, who continued her hot streak with seven points, while Eleko and sophomore guard Elia Paéz added in two tallies of their own.e
 
Saint Peter's would respond with a 6-1 spurt of its own, with Kuhl scoring five of the Peacocks' six points over the next 1:45, but Garrelts would hit two free-throws late to seal the 79-74 victory for Canisius.  
 
Earlier in the contest, the Griffs used back-to-back 3-pointers from McCauley to take an early 8-4 advantage with 6:35 in the quarter.
   
The Griffs and Peacocks would be tangled in a near tie for the remainder of the quarter with Saint Peter's outscoring the Blue and Gold, 10-8, but Canisius held a 16-14 advantage thanks to a late points from freshman forward Adrien LaMora and sophomore forward Rhay Porter.
 
The Griffs kept Saint Peter's off the board for the first 3:42 of the second quarter to open up a 21-14 lead with 6:18 remaining.
Later in the stanza, with Canisius ahead, 25-16, with 4:28 in the half, the Peacocks would start a 10-2 run, their largest of the half, over the next 2:58 to cut the Canisius lead to just one, 27-26, with 1:35 remaining.
 
Even with a late basket by sophomore forward Lydia Gattozzi and a pair of free-throws from sophomore guard Elia Paez, a 3-pointer by the Peacocks' Bellamy would cut the Blue and Gold's halftime advantage to just three, 31-28.
 
Saint Peter's opened the second half on a 9-2 spurt to take a 37-33 lead with 6:44 left in the quarter. Canisius responded with a trio of 3-pointers over the next 1:44, courtesy of two makes from McCauley and another from Haskell, to retake the lead, 42-39, with 5:12 left in the third.
 
The Peacocks and Griffs would find themselves nearly deadlocked again for the remainder of the third, with Saint Peter's holding a slim 10-7 advantage thanks to five points from Jada Williams down the stretch, to head into the fourth quarter tied at 49-all.
 
Tied 58-58 with less than five minutes to play, Garrelts put home a layup to break the deadlock and give the Griffs a 60-58 advantage with 3:59 to play.
 
The Peacocks would respond with a 6-0 surge of their own over the next 3:05 to hold a 64-60 lead with :54 seconds to play
 
After both Garrelts and Saint Peter's Bellamy went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, McCauley received a pass from Haskell and drained a shot from deep once play resumed to cut the Griffs deficit to one, 66-65, with :18 seconds remaining.
 
Canisius would once again foul Bellamy and send her to the line where she would hit both shots before a timeout was called, helping setup Garrelts for her late game heroics.
 
Postgame Comments from Head Coach Sahar Nusseibeh
   
Game Notes
• Thursday's game was the first overtime win for Canisius since Feb.1, 2018, when the Blue and Gold defeated Battle of the Bridge rival Niagara, 64-60.
• Nusseibeh won her first overtime game as a head coach with Thursday's victory against Saint Peter's. She was 0-2 in overtime contests prior to Thursday's victory.  
• This is the first time ever under Nusseibeh that Canisius and it's opponent were tied after three quarters.
• Both teams shot nearly the same from the floor with Canisius going 26-of-61 (.426) from the floor and Saint Peter's going 27-of-62 (.435) from the field for the game. 
• McCauley established a new career-high in 3-pointers made with five. Her 15 points on Thursday were a season high in a Canisius uniform. 
• Haskell is the first player to play over 40 minutes in a contest since Shaunae Brown and (41:20) and Erika Joseph (40:13) did so on Feb. 5, 2022 at Fairfield. The Franklinville, N.Y., native played in 41:48 of a possible 45 minutes.

Up Next
The Blue and Gold conclude their homestand this Saturday against conference foe Quinnipiac. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. with the game streaming on ESPN3.
 
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