In Thursday night MAAC action, Cur’Tiera Haywood and the Quinnipiac Bobcats emerged victorious over the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, 79-66.

The Saint Peters loss put a blemish on its perfect MAAC record, falling to 2-1 in the conference. Quinnipiac improved in the MAAC standings to 3-2, and 8-6 overall on the season. Additionally, the Bobcats victory was their first home MAAC win of the season. 

Haywood had a special night, exploding for a career-high 31 points in the victory. The last time a Bobcat put up 30 points in a game was in 2017, when Jen Fay did it for Quinnipiac.  

“I try to stick with my mentality of staying aggressive,” Haywood said. “I know what I’m capable of, and every game day I try to play my hardest… not think too much about it, because when I think too much, that’s when I don’t contribute enough.” 

The aggressive attitude was prevalent in Haywood’s performance, as she scored the majority of her points in the paint. 

“I feel like teams already know I can shoot pretty well,” Haywood said. “I know I can post someone up and score in the paint. I’m not just a shooter, so I have to show everything I can do on the court.” 

The Bobcats’ success was facilitated by a strong start, as they scored the first 11 points of the game in the opening 3:23 and held a 21-11 lead after the first quarter. However, the Peacocks came flocking back, returning with a 21-11 run of their own in the second quarter. 

“When we didn’t have success, we really focused on what we can control defensively,” Bobcats head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “They were scoring buckets in transition… so we were really focusing on defending teams in transition.” 

Despite having a quieter game on the offensive scoresheet, Mackenzie DeWees was spectacular defensively, getting a career-high nine steals. With that performance, DeWees is now second all-time for steals in a single game in Bobcats history. 

“I just love playing defense,” DeWees said. “You just have to have the grit, and the will to win…I just love making the offensive player feel silly.” 

DeWees’ spectacular defensive performance was critical, allowing the Bobcats to gain possession in transition and get their offense going. 

“Defense really wins championships,” added DeWees. 

The Peacocks were missing their leading scorer, Kassondra Brown, but Kendrea Williams stepped up, posting 25 points on Thursday.

The two squads will meet again Monday, Jan. 17 in Jersey City, but not before the Bobcats go on the road to take on Iona Saturday, Jan. 15, and try to extend their winning streak to three straight games.