Nov. 11, 2011
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
For 20 minutes Friday night, the Siena women's basketball team treated fans to an exciting brand of basketball that hinted at a promising season on the horizon. For 20 minutes Friday night, the team showed there's plenty of work left to do. Sacred Heart out-scored the Saints 31-13 after intermission on its way to a comfortable 62-45 opening night triumph.
It marked the eighth straight season the Saints have opened with a loss, with seven of those setbacks coming by double figures.
The Saints led 32-31 at the break, but the offense fell flat in the second half, managing just five points over a nearly 15-minute stretch that saw a 3-point advantage transform to a 13-point deficit with less than five minutes to play.
"I thought we had a really good first half, but we really didn't execute in the second half." head coach Gina Castelli said. "We were taking rushed shots, and defensively we didn't rebound the ball well."
Part of the problem was the loss of starting point guard, sophomore Allison Mullings. Mullings left the game in the first half with a left leg injury, and later returned to watch the conclusion on a wheel chair. Her official status is unknown at this time.
Turnovers played a big part in the outcome. The Saints had 21 miscues, leading to 18 Sacred Heart points. Twelve of the turnovers came in the second half with Mullings looking on.
Gabrielle Washington led a balanced, if unspectacular, attack for the Pioneers with 14 points, matching Siena's Maja Gerlyng for game-high. Gerlyng, whose parents made the trip to Loudonville all the way from Denmark to watch the game, scored 10 of her points in a four-minute span as Siena rallied from as many as 15 down (24-7) with a 25-7 run over the final 11 minutes of the first half.
Lily Grenci joined Gerlyng in double figures with 10 points for the Saints. Clara Sole Anglada added seven points and seven rebounds in the first start of her career.
The Saints return home Tuesday to face a strong Binghamton team at 7 p.m. All fans purchasing a ticket to that game can come to the men's opener against Navy the next day for free.
