PITTSBURGH, PA - The Saint Peter's women's basketball team was defeated in a highly entertaining matchup against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers 52-81 on Tuesday from the Petersen Events Center.
The Peacoks walked into a long road trip debuting six new players to earn minutes played. With a completely new starting lineup that only retained two veterans from last season. One of those returners and the standout performance from the clash in the Steel City was undoubtedly
Carys Roy who completely filled up the stat sheet on both ends of the floor. Roy ended the contest with 18 points on just nine of twelve shooting from the field, to go with seven boards and an assist to boot. That is just the offensive side of the ball, Roy was the defensive enforcer for Saint Peter's with four blocks and a steal as well. Those four blocks are tied for the second most in her career in the blue and white. And to top it all off, Roy pulled a near iron women performance as she tied for the second most minutes played on the Peacocks in the contest.
When looking at the pack of newcomers, the leader came in the form of
Ebere Egbirika who ends the game as the second leading scorer for Saint Peter's with nine points to go along with five boards and four assists, the vision for Egbirika led the Peacocks in assists for the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER: Saint Peter's entered the contest with three new starters, those three came in the form of
Sierra Patricio,
Lamaria Estridge, and
Ineivi Plata. With the first basket coming from Roy on a layup inside the paint followed up a minute later by a layup also inside by Patricio. After a made triple by the Panthers, Roy began to make her presence on defense felt, intercepting a lazy pass from Pittsburgh. After a basket inside by Pitt, the teams would be in a scorless stalemate for the next several minutes as the defense intensified. The run would eventually be broken by a basket from Roy on a fastbreak following a great cross court pass from Egbirika. Another basket inside the paint came from Egbirika to send the contest into the media timeout with the score being 8-14 in favor of the Panthers. Coming out of the timeout with about two minutes left in the quarter, Roy controlled the paint with a huge block to find Egbirika on the offensive side to knock down a wide open triple, and give Saint Peter's some momentum to head into the end of the quarter with only a five point deficit at a score of 11-16.
SECOND QUARTER: The Panthers scored quickly with two baskets inside before Egbirika quickly responded to a Pitt turnover with a basket of her own inside. One minute later, she followed up the basket by knocking down a free throw. A basket inside by Roy with the assist coming from
Jada Mills kept the score close at 16-27 halfway through the quarter. Mills added onto the scoring a few seconds later with a triple from the left wing that erupted the Peacocks bench. With the Panthers trying to add onto their lead, another block from Roy halted any chance to grow the lead from inside the paint. The two squads exchanged misses from the perimeter until a basket from the Panthers led to timeout with a score of 19-33 heading into the final two minutes of the half. A pair of free throws from Pitt was quickly responded to by a triple from
Nikola Zdenkova. A four point run by the Panthers and a final basket from Patricio on a second chance layup, gave the Peacocks some breathing room to enter the half with a score of 24-39.
THIRD QUARTER: Just like the first half, the second half started the exact same way, a layup underneath from Roy, this time with an assist from Zdenkova. Zdenkova kept the intensity going by making a big time block on the defensive end the very next possession. The tandom of Roy and Zdenkova continued to attack the paint for the Panthers as another basket from Roy made the score 28-42 with eight minutes to go in the third. However, soon things turned sour for the Peacocks as they faced a cold four minutes of no scoring until
Aniyah Neal broke the spell to make the score 30-54. A five point run quickly ensued from Pitt and it was soon broken up by a basket inside again from Roy to be followed up by a layup inside from Plata assisted from Roy. The Panthers added to their total by earning the points at the line, and with around 16 seconds left in the quarter, Patricio scored on a second chance layup inside. But that was quickly answered on the opposing end with a layup inside to make the score 36-66 to end the third.
FOURTH QUARTER: The Panthers striked first before Roy answered back to get the scoring going in the fourth, the assist for the basket coming via Estridge who also contributed defensively by stealing the ball the very next possession. A basket inside and a free throw from Pitt and another fast break layup by Roy were the only points scored for the next few minutes. Another Roy layup inside sent the contest to a media timeout with the Panthers holding onto a 74-42 lead over Saint Peter's. Coming out of the timeout it was Estridge with a triple from long range to kick off the scoring for Saint Peter's, scoring the teams first four points from the break with a trip to line and sinking one of two. Egbirika quickly followed up with her own bucket at the line before another triple from Mills, assisted by
Soreya Yilmaz, gave the Peacocks some late game momentum. However, the clock was not in Saint Peter's favor, and a last second jumper by
Bree Riley was the final points the Peacocks would score in a final of 52-81. A highly impressive performance with numerous new members showing great promise for the future of Saint Peter's Basketball.
UP NEXT: The Peacocks continue their non conference schedule with the second of three straight road trips at Georgetown on Sunday, Nov. 8 with tip off scheduled for 2 pm.
