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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena Women's Basketball added another chapter to its storybook season Thursday night. Seeded third in the East Region, the Saints grinded past sixth seeded Stony Brook 53-46 in the First Round of the Women's Basketball Invitational to secure both the program's first national postseason tournament victory and 20-win season in a dozen years.

Winners of six of their last seven, Siena (20-12) advances to face the East Region's No. 2 seed Xavier in the WBI Quarterfinals Sunday at 2 p.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Musketeers rallied from an 11-point deficit with just over five minutes to play to defeat seventh seed William & Mary 57-56.

Senior captain Tehresa Coles and freshman guard Kollyns Scarbrough led the way with 13 points apiece for the Saints which improved to 3-4 all-time in Division I National Postseason Tournament play in making the program's fifth appearance and first in 12 years. Junior forward Symone Kelly added 12 points off Siena's two-woman bench which outscored Stony Brook's (17-14) reserves 17-0 as the Saints eclipsed 20 wins for the 13th time in program history.

Fairfield transfer Christa Sconamiglio led all scorers with 16 points for the Seawolves which hung tough throughout despite being forced to play without their leading scorer and rebounder Sabre Proctor who missed the game due to injury. Kori Bayne-Walker added 12 points and six rebounds for Stony Brook which ends their season on a three-game losing streak.

Both teams got off to slow starts as each side struggled early to shake the rust from a nearly two-week layoff. In a first half which featured six ties and eight lead changes, Siena peaked towards the end in concluding the stanza on a 14-5 run to take a 27-20 lead at the break.

The Saints would not trail again, although Stony Brook hung around and ultimately rallied to within a point at 40-39 with 9:53 to play. But that's when Siena would embark upon a 9-0 run spanning 5:23 which was capped by a Coles three to give the Saints their biggest lead of the game at 49-39 with 4:06 to play.

The late 10-point advantage would prove to be more than enough as the Saints ultimately held Stony Brook without a field goal for 8:50. Siena's stingy defense limited the Seawolves to just 31.4% shooting overall, while harboring a 23-8 edge in points off turnovers.

After missing all 13 three-point shots in their MAAC Semifinals loss to eventual conference champion Quinnipiac, the Saints shot 6-15 from distance and hit timely treys. In addition to Coles' late three, Scarbrough shot a perfect 3-3 from distance including several clutch trifectas.

Coles added eight rebounds and five assists in another solid all-around effort for Siena which improves to 8-2 against non-conference opponents, which is tied for the program's most non-conference wins in 21 years.

The next stop on Siena's magical journey is the Queen City as the Saints face 18-14 Xavier out of the Big East for the first time in program history. The Saints have posted an impressive 11-3 road record this season, which ranked tied for the seventh most road wins nationally entering the week.