There are losses, and there really are losses. Count the Saint Peter’s Peacocks’ loss to the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon as a game that got away.
Jersey City, NJ: The Mountaineers (7-8, 3-3 MAAC) downed the Peacocks (3-13, 2-5 MAAC) 55-51, pushing Saint Peter’s to 1-7 at home, with a five-game losing streak at Run Baby Run Arena.
SPU Head Coach Jen Leedham: We moved the ball well for 35 minutes,” Peacocks coach Jen Leedham assessed about a blown 50-44 lead with 5:51 to go in regulation. “We looked tight. We did not trust one another. We were afraid of the moment. We have to be ready when the moment finds us.
It certainly was a meltdown.
It started when Alana Powell hit a layup after Zaria Harleaux’s pass on a rebound off Berlynn Carlson’s missed 3-pointer. Then, Harleaux made a layup on a rebound off Gabrielle Kennerly’s miss, cutting the Mount’s deficit to 50-48 with 4:24 to go. This sequence came after Carys Roy turned the ball over after Powell scored.
Layla Laws turned the ball over, and Kennerly made Laws pay by executing a layup, tying the game at 50 with 3:08 to go in the game.
Kennerly was in the line again after being fouled by De’naya Rippey. She hit one of two free throws, giving the Mountaineers their first lead of the game at 51-50 since a 15-13 lead in the second quarter.
Amber Bullard knocked Rippey down to the ground, resulting in the Peacocks being at the free-throw line. Rippey only hit one of two free throws, tying the game at 51.
With the game tied at 51, it turned into the Mountaineers’ favor on a questionable foul call on Reilly Sunday, who was whistled for pushing off Kennerly on the 3-point line. Kennerly hit all three of her free throws, giving the Mount a 54-51 lead with 1:14 to go.
Leedham was incensed at the refs after she called a timeout to settle her team down.
In the end, the visitors finished an 11-1 run to complete a comeback, with Kennerly scoring six of her 14 points in that run. The Peacocks went through three minutes of being scoreless.
The Peacocks received nothing from their starting guards in this contest, as Nikola Zdenkova and Louella Allana scored three points apiece. “We need more out of our starters,” Leedham mused. “We are not going to win games that way if we get nothing out of them.”
Carys Roy (photo courtesy SPU Athletics)
Roy was the lone bright spot for the Peacocks. She led all scorers with 15 points (season-high), a performance that comes after a 14-point night against Fairfield. She made her presence felt by grabbing five rebounds. She was able to get in the line by hitting three of her four free throws and dished out five assists.
Roy appears to be finding her stride after missing last season with an ACL injury. “We used her off the bench,” Leedham said of utilizing Roy. “She works hard. She’s so determined to play at a high level. It’s been a mental thing for her all year. Her goal is to be an all-conference player this year.”
Roy did slow down in the end, which may have contributed to the Peacocks’ collapse.
Was she fatigued in the end? “No,” Leedham said.
Jayshlynn Vega contributed to the Peacocks by scoring 12 points on 4 3-pointers. Laws added 13.
The Peacocks will now go on a two-game road trip–at Siena on Saturday, January 17, at 2 PM, and Iona on Monday, January 19, at 1 PM–before returning home to play Merrimack on Thursday, January 22, at 7 PM. All three contests will be televised on ESPN+.
