BUFFALO — The Canisius women’s basketball team will play Saint Peter’s at the Koeesler Athletic Center at 7 p.m. Sunday.
After spending much of the season on the road in 2016-17, the Blue and Gold get a chance to settle into a month that features five of its eight games to be played, at the Koessler Athletic Center. • It comes at a critical time of the season as well, as the Griffs enter the contest with a 8-17 overall mark and a 7-9 MAAC record.
Canisius enters the week staring at their final two home games to be played on Thursday and Saturday. The Griffs host Saint Peter’s in their Play4Kay game and then Siena, in the teams annual senior day. Canisius is coming off a split last week, defeating Niagara in its home rivalry game, 52-41, while falling to Rider 61-50 on Sunday. The Griffs led in all three quarters against the Broncs, and took a two-point lead into the final frame, but the Broncs outscored Canisius 29-16, to secure the 61-50 victory.
The news wasn’t all bad on Sunday as the Sara Hinriksdottir paced the team with 20 points and recorded her first career double-double, taking down 12 boards. Also reaching double figures was Sarah Cooley, who scored 12. On the season overall, Hinriksidottir is Leading the team offensively, and averages 15 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per contest. She also shoots near 50 percent with a mark of 47.4 percent from the field. D’Hont is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.4 points per game, to go along with a 4.2 rebound per contest mark. Also flirting with a double-digit average is Margret Halfdanardottir, who averages 9.0 per contest. The long-range specialist is shooting 37.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Blue and Gold is averaging 58.9 points per game, while opponents are tallying 64.3 points per contest.
Saint Peter’s enters this contest with a 3-22 overall record and a 2-14 conference mark. The team is currently mired in a 13-game losing skid and hasn’t won a game yet in the 2017 Calendar year.
• Talah Hughes leads the team in points per game with a 12.67 mark. She is the only player on the Peacocks to average double-figures. Janelle Mullen and Sanjanna Bethea are in the neighborhood of double-digits, averaging 8.7 points per game and 8.2 points per game, respectively. Hughes and Bethea also lead the team in rebounds sporting 5.4 and 5.3 marks. Sammy Lochner dishes out the assists on the team, bringing a 2.9 assists-per-set average into the game. The Peacocks are averaging 53.1 points per game, while opponents are averaging 69.0 points per contest.
This is the 60th meeting all-time in program history between these teams, as Saint Peter’s holds a slight edge, 30-29. The first game between these two squads came in 1985-86 season and Canisius didn’t record its first win until 1991 with a two game-sweep of the Peacocks. Saint Peter’s dominated the Griffs, early in the series, holding a 23-7 lead over Canisius leading into the 2002 season. Following the Griffs win in the MAAC tournament in 2002, Canisius has started its own string of dominance, going 23-7 since that time. Head coach Terry Zeh has also enjoyed great success against Saint Peter’s having gone 21-7.
Entering the game against Rider on Feb. 12, Sophomore Sara Hinriksdottir had recorded double-digit points and eight-to-nine rebounds four times, flirting with a double-double. Finally against the Broncs, Hinriksdottir came through and accomplished the feat. Hinriksdottir scored 20 points and took down 12 rebounds as she not only recorded her first double-double, but also tallied the first for the team in the 2016-17 season. The last person to accomplish the feat was Lauren D’Hont against Marist last season she tallied 13 points and 10 boards.
With its win over Niagara, the Griffs continue to score wins in conference action. The Griffs are now near .500 for the season against its MAAC foes, with a 7-9 overall mark. With four games left to play the Griffs have a chance to post its most wins in conference since the 2012-13 season, when the team notched nine. Canisius also has the opportunity to finish over .500 in conference action for the first time since the 2008-09 season when the team went 14-4. Canisius has recorded eight wins in MAAC play in three of the last four seasons.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
