Top Moments: Women’s Basketball Pulls Off the Upset of the Year

Saint Peter’s University Athletics enjoyed an incredibly successful 2019-20 academic year and was poised for even greater heights prior to the early cancelations of the winter and spring seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To honor the incredible student-athletes who made this past athletics season possible, we will look back at a number of milestone moments every week to celebrate 2019-20 to the fullest.

The Tale of the Tape

At the midpoint of the MAAC slate, the women's basketball squad entered the Feb. 6 home contest against hOURglass Rival Rider, holding a 2-8 record in conference action and 5-14 overall mark. The Peacocks were coming off of two straight losses and the team had fell in seven of the previous eight games, five of which resulted in double digit setbacks.

On the flip side, Rider was heading to Jersey City with a perfect MAAC record through 10 games, the program's best league start in its history. The Broncs were in the midst of a 14-game winning streak (a program-record for consecutive wins) and was one of four Division I teams with a winning streak of at least 14 games entering the week. Rider boasted a 17-2 overall record, the best record for the program since joining Division I prior to the 1982-83 season. The Broncs were also ranked seventh in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 and had the nations leading scorer in Stella Johnson who entered the game averaging 25.2 points per game.

In head-to-head action, Saint Peter's dropped eight consecutive meetings with in-state rival Rider, which included back-to-back 20-point defeats during the 2018-19 ledger. 

On paper, the Peacocks didn't stand a chance against the Broncs, but when rivals meet, anything can happen. And Saint Peter's proved that.

How It Happened

First Quarter

• Neither team was able to find much success in the opening minutes of the game, as the scoreboard remained blank for the first two and a half minutes of action. The streak would eventually be ended by Taiah Thornton, who grabbed a key steal in front of the Peacocks basket and traveled the length of the floor for the driving layup.
• Saint Peter's would edge out to a 5-2 lead midway through the first quarter, following a successful free throw from Gabrielle Harris.  The Peacocks would then gain their first 10 point lead of the game late in the opening stanza, going up 13-2 following a pair of made layups from Zoe Pero and Cinnamon Dockery.

Second Quarter

• Yamel Abreu would open the second quarter with an impressive three-pointer off the glass as the shot clock ran down to zero, giving Saint Peter's a 16-10 advantage. Briyanah Richardson then hit a triple of her own midway through the quarter, extending the Saint Peter's lead to 23-14.
• A second triple from Richardson late in the first half would give the Peacocks another double-digit lead, this time going ahead 30-20 with under two minutes to go in the quarter. The Peacocks would finish out the first half with their largest lead of the day at that point, holding a 12 point advantage over the Broncs with the scoreboard reading 32-20.

Third Quarter

• A pivotal 7-0 run in the beginning of the second half brought the score to 39-22 in favor of the Peacocks, with the seven points coming from three separate players, including Thornton, Wil'lisha Jackson, and Kendrea Williams.
• The Broncs would then go on a run of their own, staging a 6-2 streak that would narrow the Peacocks lead to 41-28 with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.
• There would be an over two minute absence in scoring from either side in the latter part of the third period before Pero grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed triple from Abreu, putting the shot back up for the contested layup.

Fourth Quarter

• Harris would hit her sixth and seventh free throws of the day to start the fourth quarter, followed up by a solid driving layup from Thornton, giving Saint Peter's a 53-37 lead. The Broncs would again chip away at the Peacocks lead, narrowing the advantage to 12 following a midrange jumper from Stella Johnson with just over five minutes left to play.
• Clutch free throws late in the game from Abreu, Thornton, and Richardson would maintain the Peacocks' double-digit lead, as the Peacocks held on to a 64-52 lead with under a minute to go.

Inside The Numbers

• The Peacocks never trailed in the affair, leading for more than 36 minutes of the game, with the remainder coming in the opening minutes with a tied score.
• At the conclusion of the first half, Pero had already amassed an impressive seven rebounds for the Peacocks, leading all players in the category.
• Pero's double-double was the senior's first of the season, and her 13 rebounds tied her career-best set at Lafayette on Nov. 20, 2018.
• Richardson was perfect from the foul line, hitting all six of her shots, including two within the final minute of play to maintain the Peacocks' lead.
• The win was the 199th on head coach Marc Mitchell for his career.
• Saint Peter's held Rider to their lowest three-point shooting performance of the season, allowing the Broncs to hit just 1-of-20 from beyond the arc.
• It was also the first game all season in which Rider never held a lead.

Stay tuned for future Top Moments of 2019-20 in the weeks ahead!

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