Ashley Durham led the Golden Griffins with 15 points.
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Kaydine Bent, from Saint Peters College, left, tries to steal the ball from Canisius College's Jen Lennox , during a first-round game in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Basketball Championships at the MassMutual Center Thursday afternoon. Canisius won 79-55.
“Ball movement was very important,” said Ashley Durham, an Second Team All-MAAC selection. “A couple weeks before the tournament we were a little sticky with the ball, so it was good to see us moving the ball a lot and making the extra pass.”
Durham, a senior guard and Canisius’ leading scorer, led the team with 15 points, as 12 of 13 Golden Griffins scored. Canisius wore down Saint Peter’s with its depth, outscoring the Peacocks 37-11 in bench points.
“Anytime you get into a conference tournament situation, where you’re playing every day, you have to have depth,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “I thought everybody that came off the bench was ready to go.”
Junior center Jen Lennox provided a major spark off the bench, scoring 10 points in 13 minutes, while junior guard Jen Morabito sank 3 of 4 3-pointers.
The score was tied at 12 less than 5 minutes into the game, when Canisius switched from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone, which stymied the Saint Peter’s offense, especially Third Team All-MAAC performer Aziza May. May, who averaged 11.7 ppg, was held to just eight points on 3 of 13 field goals.
“Our defense wasn’t great (at the start), but we went zone, and that changed (Saint Peter’s) rhythm,” Zeh said.
Senior forward Kristal Edwards scored a game-high 17 points for Saint Peter’s in her final collegiate contest. Fellow senior Jesika Holmes (10 points) also reached double-figures in scoring for the Peacocks.
Canisius advances to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 2-seeded Iona Friday morning at 9:30. Iona swept the season series.
“Hopefully, what we’re going to do first is get (Iona’s) wake-up calls pushed back so that they miss the game,” Zeh joked.
