Final Stats

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Joy Adams recorded her second 20-point, 10-rebound performance in nine days against the Saints as Iona swept the regular season series from Siena Women's Basketball 63-51 at the Hynes Athletics Center. Adams finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels which moved a half-game ahead of idle Quinnipiac for first place in the MAAC.

Freshman guard Jackie Benitez scored 18 points off the bench to lead Siena (12-16, 9-9), while red-shirt junior guard Denisha Petty-Evans added 10 points for the Saints which have dropped six straight and nine of 11.

Iona (18-10, 14-3) defeated Siena by a nearly identical 64-51 score last Wednesday in Loudonville, but the rematch was a vastly different affair. Although the Gaels led throughout, the Saints battled hard and hung around for the full 40 minutes against the MAAC front runners.

Iona led by as many as 11 in the first half and 31-23 at the break, but Siena bridged the third and fourth quarters with a mini 8-2 run to rally as close as 43-40 with 8:58 to play. However the Gaels would respond with the next six points to stretch the lead back to nine with 6:26 remaining and Siena could get no closer than six thereafter.

Playing their third game in six days, Siena shot just 30.6% (19-62) from the field against a well-rested Iona squad which had been off for since last Friday.

Senior forward Symone Kelly pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with six points for the Saints, while sophomore forward Emmanuella Edoka provided a spark off the bench with six points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Aaliyah Robinson tallied 13 points including the 1,000th of her career for Iona which has won eight of nine. Marina Lizarazu scored eight points and added nine assists for the Gaels which have won eight of the last nine matchups overall against Siena and nine of the last 10 in New Rochelle.

The Saints conclude regular season action with a pair of home games next week at the ARC. First up is a date with rival Marist Thursday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised throughout New York on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and elsewhere on ESPN3.