March 5, 2010

Final Stats

ALBANY, N.Y. - Siena women's basketball shot 28.6% from the field, had 22 turnovers and was knocked out of the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals by No. 2 seeded Iona 59-43 Friday morning at Times Union Center. For the second straight tournament game, the No. 7 seeded Saints shot under 33%. But the Gaels proved to be tougher than Siena's First Round opponent and the Saints couldn't slip past them.

Siena ends its season with an 11-18 overall record.

"I thought especially in the league we really played well," Head Coach Gina Castelli said. "We competed with every team, and were in pretty much all the games. Other than Saint Peter's and Marist, we beat everybody. It says a lot about these kids, the heart they showed, the team effort they bring. I thought it was a good season."

Thazina Cook (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Kristina Ford (11 points, 10 rebounds) both posted double-doubles and Iona scored 20 points off Siena's turnovers.

Junior forward Serena Moore led the Saints with 14 points. She was keyed on by Iona's pressure defense as they limited her to 3-of-11 shooting from the field and forced six turnovers. She made 8-of-11 free throws.

Siena scored six straight points to take a 17-15 lead in the first half. It was Siena's largest and last lead of the game.

The Gaels led 25-19 at intermission and pushed their lead to 12 points less than five minutes into the second half when Suzi Fregosi hit a 3-pointer. It capped a 7-0 run for Iona. Freshman forward Lily Grenci made a jumper two minutes later that cut the lead to nine points, but Iona scored on the next possession and led by double digits the rest of the way.

Senior guard Merrick Volpe scored 12 points and had eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:24 left in the game.