St. Peter's Women's Preview: Tough Times

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SAINT PETER'S WOMEN

2011-12 SEASON TO DATE: 0-9.

2010-11 SEASON: 5-13 in MAAC play, 6-25 overall.

KEY RETURNEES (This season's statistics): 5-9 senior forward Jynae Judson (17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds), 5-3 sophomore guard Aziza May (8.3, 3.0), 6-2 senior center Quiana Porter (6.2, 5.0), 5-5 senior guard Aminah Davis (5.7, 2.3).

KEY LOSS: Forward Jessica Coles (5.7, 3.3).

COACHES' PRESEASON PREDICTION: Tied for 8th.

NOTES: Judson missed the first four games, but has come back strong. Still, she can't do it by herself and isn't getting a lot of help. May, an undersized sophomore, is emerging as a solid point guard and has more assists than turnovers (37-31). But, everyone else is basically a role player ... Porter, always solid inside, remains so. Jessika Holmes, a 6-0 junior forward, adds a little height and leads the team in rebounding at 5.8 per game ... Other than Judson, one of the league better players, the Peahens are offensively challenged and only score an average of 51 points per game. Opponents, mostly mid-major programs, are scoring 66.1 per game against Saint Peter's ... Manigrasso, who was one of the MAAC's better freshmen last season (7.5 points per game), is only getting 8.5 minutes per contest this year ... There's depth as the team goes 10 deep on most nights, but other than Judson most of the pieces to date are interchangeable parts.

HOW SAINT PETER'S CAN SUCCEED: What it usually does best is create havoc with defense, pressure and athleticism, but it hasn't been real successful at doing that yet. It needs a second and, probably, a third offensive option to step up.

PREDICTION: If the non-league results to date are any indication, then the Peahens are destined for the post-season tournament's play-in round once again. But, last year's team, despite an 0-11 start, was resilient enough to go 6-14 the rest of the way while winning its last three regular-season games. Judson's presence alone, could account for a few wins, but don't expect the program to do any better than to steal a few wins along the way to a finish in the bottom four spots this season.