Box Score LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Rider defeated Saint Peter's 54-49 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) women's basketball contest on Tuesday night.
Sajanna Bethea (Levittown, Pa. / Pennsbury) fueled Saint Peter's (3-20, 3-11 MAAC) with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Hala Mostafa (Cairo, Egypt / Modern Narmer Language School) finished with 14 points while Antonia Smith (Bronx, N.Y. / Dwight School) tallied 12 points in the loss.
Robin Perkins powered Rider (8-16, 5-9 MAAC) with 17 points, while Emily Fazzini posted 12 points in the victory.
After closing the gap before half, the Broncs used a strong run to begin the second half to pull away and earn the season-split against the Peacocks.
Saint Peter's opened up the game with four unanswered points to the take the lead. Rider countered with a 21-4 run, capped off by three straight 3-pointers, to lead 21-8 with 8:14 left to go in the stanza.
The Peacocks chipped away at the margin, outscoring the Broncs 15-4 to end the half and only trail 25-23 heading into the locker room.
Rider opened the second half with a 10-0 run to push the lead back to double-digits with 14:40 on the clock. The Peacocks stopped the drought with a jumper from Bethea at 13:50 to trim the deficit.
Trailing 49-39 with 5:36 to go, the Peacocks cut the lead to single digits with a basket from Smith. Following a free throw from the Broncs, Saint Peter's cut the deficit to three with four straight points to trail 50-47 with 1:54 to go.
The Broncs hit free throws down the stretch to fend off the Peacocks for the 54-49 victory.
Saint Peter's returns to action on Feb. 12, when they welcome Iona to the Yanitelli Center to complete the season-series. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
