JERSEY CITY, N.J.- The Saint Peter's University women's basketball team will face off against the Canisius College Golden Griffins this Thursday, to kick off the 2013 MAAC Women's Basketball Championships in Springfield, Ma. The tournament will be held in the Mass Mutual Center for the second straight year.
Tipoff for the Peacocks' first round contest is 12pm.
To purchase tickets, please visit the MassMutual box office or www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices start as low as $10.
Fans unable to attend the contest can listen live free of charge on www.redzonemedia.com. Live stats will also be provided by the MAAC at http://maac.statbroadcast.com. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter @PeacockNation for updates throughout the game.
The tenth-seeded Peacocks will face the seventh-seeded Griffs in the first round for the second consecutive year.
Last year, Saint Peter's entered the tournament as the ninth seed, and Canisius was the seventh. The Peacocks defeated Canisius by a score of 62-57 and ultimately fell to eventual conference champions Marist, 74-49, in the quarterfinals.
Saint Peter's has faced Canisius in the MAAC tournament a total of four times and is 2-2 in these matchups. Before last year's meeting, the Peacocks (8th seed) faced the Golden Griffins (9th seed) in 2010, and dropped a 66-57 decision to the Griffs (9th seed) in the first round.
Saint Peter's is led by MAAC All-Third Team selection Aziza May (South Euclid, Ohio/Charles F. Brush), who is averaging 11.7 points per game (13.9 ppg in MAAC play), and 3.7 assists per game. Senior forward Kristal Edwards (Jersey City, N.J./Lincoln) ranks first on the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game, while fellow senior forwards Jesika Holmes (Norwalk, Conn./Hyde Prep) and Kaydine Bent (Bronx, N.Y./Harry S. Truman) are tied for the team lead in rebounds (7.2 rpg).
Canisius is led by senior Ashley Durham who was named to the All-MAAC First Team after averaging 14.6 ppg in conference play and 11.6 ppg overall. The Golden Griffins also boast a member of the MAAC All Rookie Team, Tiahana Mills, who averaged 4.3 ppg and led all MAAC freshmen at 2.7 assists per game. Mills has missed the final three games of the regular season however, after suffering from an ankle injury. Senior Ashley Wilkes leads the squad in rebounds per game (7.3) and is third on the team in scoring with 8.4 ppg.
The tilt between Saint Peter's and Canisius marks the 52nd ever meeting between the Peacocks and Golden Griffins. The Peacocks maintain a 30-21 advantage in the series.
This season the Peacocks and Griffs split the regular season series. The Peacocks last faced Canisius on Thursday, January 7th in Buffalo, N.Y. and came away with a 74-65 victory. May finished with a career-high 29 points on 9-17 shooting (3-7 from 3-pt range) in the victory, while adding 8 boards and 3 assists. The junior point guard scored 18 points in the second half alone.
A charter member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Saint Peter's is 343-253 (.576) in MAAC play, including regular season and championship tournament games, since beginning MAAC play in 1981. The Peacocks are 304-231 (.568) in regular season games and 39-22 in the MAAC Tournament. Overall, Saint Peter's has experienced the most success against Rider (42-11 ; .792) and Iona (59-19 ; .766). The Peacocks have a winning record against everyone in the MAAC, with the exception of Marist (15-24) and Fairfield, (35-38).
Saint Peter's has been crowned MAAC Champions on nine separate occasions; 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2001-02. Mike Granelli was at the helm of every championship squad. Granelli served as head coach for 32 years; from the 1972-73 season until 2003-04.
The Peacocks are coached by Stephanie DeWolfe, who is in her ninth season at the helm of the squad.
A 1997 graduate of Saint Peter's and alum of the women's basketball program, DeWolfe earned one championship ring as a player, and added three more MAAC titles and three trips to the NCAA Tournament in six years as an assistant coach to Granelli.
