Women’s Basketball Looks to Rebound at Lehigh on Friday

Tip-Off: 

• The Saint Peter's University women's basketball team is set to visit Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania tomorrow night at 7 p.m.
• The Peacocks are coming off of a season that saw great success, as they reached the MAAC Championship game. The program had not done that since 2002.
• The Peacocks are coming off of a 59-38 loss at Rutgers this past Tuesday.

Last Time Out

• Saint Peter's dropped the season opener at Rutgers this past Tuesday.
• Despite the score, the Peacocks fought the whole way and didn't quit. Being down by double digits at the half, the Peacocks stormed back out of the break to cut the lead to five. 
• Graduate guard Kendrea Williams did some work at the free-throw line after missing much of the first half with foul trouble. She made six free throws over the course of the run. 
• Sophomore guard Rachel Kuhl came off of the bench and made two big baskets, and then junior center Kassondra Brown found sophomore forward Sky Castro for an easy layup to cap the run.

The Series

• All-time: Lehigh leads, 7-0
• Streak: Lehigh (7)
• Last Saint Peter's Win: N/A
• Last Rutgers Win: 12/19/19 (L, 80-71, at SPU)

Top Performers This Season

• Preseason All-MAAC Second Team selection Kendrea Williams led the way with 10 points for the Peacocks at Rutgers. She went to the line often, shooting 7-of-10 at the line (70%) and added a three-pointer.
• Brown made her presence felt down low against Rutgers, scoring eight points and snatching eight rebounds.
• Senior guard Kourtney Crane was a menace on the defensive end in the matchup with Rutgers, recording four steals. She also added six points.
• Running the Peacock offense, senior guard Binta Salawu scored six points Tuesday night at Rutgers. She also added two steals.

Transfer Tandem

• The duo of Brown and Crane combined for an impressive outing in their game at Saint Peter's in the team's previous matchup at Rutgers. 
• Brown, who transferred in from Rhode Island, scored eight points and added a team-leading eight rebounds in the last outing. 
• Crane, who comes from Chicago State, scored six points, tallied four rebounds, and picked up three steals for the Peacocks. 

In Need of a Win

• The Peacocks are looking for their first win of the season this Friday night.
• Saint Peter's hasn't lost the first two games of the season since the 2016-17 campaign. They only won three games that season.
• The Peacocks had won three prior season openers coming into this season, defeating NJIT in 2018 and 2020, and LIU in 2019.

The 2020-21 Peacocks

• Saint Peter's finished last season with 13 overall wins and ten in the league circuit to represent the team's best finish in over a decade.
• Among the victories came marquee wins over some of the conference's top programs, including a 58-51 win against Regular Season Champion Marist on March 5. 
• The Peacocks then went on a run in the MAAC Tournament, beating Iona 61-50 and then Rider 72-67 a day later to reach the MAAC Championship for the first time since 2002.
• The Peacocks will look to capitalize on home-court advantage this season, as they had to play their 2020-21 home games at NJCU because of the arena renovation at Saint Peter's.

Co-Coach of the Year: Marc Mitchell

• Head coach March Mitchell was named MAAC Co-Coach of the Year last season, becoming the first coach since 1999 to claim the award.
• Mitchell, who started coaching at Saint Peter's in 2016, has improved the Peacocks record every year as a head coach.
• He took the team to the 2021 MAAC Championship game, something that hadn't been done since 2002.
• With Mitchell at the helm, the Peacock program will look to continue in the right direction this campaign.

Up Next:

• The Peacocks continue the regular season with a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, November 17, as they host Wagner for their first regular season game in Run Baby Run Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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