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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - March has once again come in like a lion and so has the Siena Women's Basketball team. The Saints went on a late 16-0 run spanning just 4:39 to shake Saint Peter's 64-47 on Senior Day in opening the most important month of the college basketball season and heading into the MAAC Tournament riding a four-game winning streak.

Siena (18-11, 11-9) concludes the regular season with the program's most wins in 12 years, while doubling its win total from all of last season. The Saints' second separate four-game winning streak of the season is tied for the program's longest in four years as Siena heads into next week's MAAC Tournament peaking at the right time.

Four Saints scored in double figures led by junior forward Symone Kelly and sophomore captain Meghan Donohue who tallied 15 points apiece in leading Siena to its 10th straight win over Saint Peter's (4-25, 4-16). Kelly scored 13 of her points in her career-high performance in the second half, shooting 5-7 from field while adding seven rebounds and two blocks off the bench. Siena made a concerted effort to get the ball inside and it paid off as the Saints held a 36-14 edge in points in the paint.

It was a tight game for the first 33 minutes as Siena had its hands full with an improved Saint Peter's team which was coming off an upset of nine-time defending MAAC Champion Marist Thursday night. In an affair that featured two ties and seven lead changes, Alyssa Velles pulled the Peacocks within 44-43 with 7:50 to play.

But that's when the Saints kicked it into the next gear. Kelly started the 16-0 spurt with a personal 6-0 run which she capped with just her third three-pointer of the season. Senior guard Ida Krogh ended the run with the final five points in what would ultimately become a personal seven-point run as Siena blew the game open in taking a 60-43 lead with just 2:51 to play.

While Siena's offense exploded during the run, their much improved defense was equally impressive as the Saints held Saint Peter's scoreless for 5:09 and without a field goal for 7:11. Overall, the Saints forced a season-best 26 turnovers on the strength of 14 steals and enter the MAAC Tournament having allowed an average of just 49.8 points during their winning streak.

Siena's two active seniors, captain Tehresa Coles and Krogh, enjoyed memorable final appearances at the ARC in winning their 52nd game, the most by any Senior Class in nine years. Coles scored 10 points and added five steals, four rebounds and three assists. With her first assist, Coles became just the sixth player in the MAAC's 33-year history to eclipse 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists and 250 steals for her career.

Krogh also stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Converted from a post player to the team's point guard just prior to the start of the season, Krogh has now dished out 136 assists which is the most by any Siena player in 16 years.

Velles led the Peacocks with 12 points while fellow freshman Sajanna Bethea added 11 points and six rebounds for Saint Peter's which has lost 22 of its last 23 road games. Saint Peter's will be the No. 10 seed in the MAAC Tournament and meet seventh seeded Rider in the First Round Thursday at 11:30 a.m.

Meanwhile Siena, which was predicted to come in 10th by the league's 11 head coaches after finishing 10th in winning just nine games a year ago, will be the No. 5 seed in the MAAC Championships which it is hosting at the Times Union Center. The Saints will face fourth seeded Iona in the MAAC Quarterfinals Friday at 2:30 p.m. The Gaels swept the regular season series from the Saints, winning 79-50 in Loudonville on Jan. 16 and 57-50 in New Rochelle two Sundays ago.