Redshirt senior Joella Gibson led the Siena Saints offense with a season-high 12 points, and held down the Drexel Dragons for much of the game, but fell 51-39 in the opening game of the TD Bank Classic in Burlington, VT. The Saints 39-point effort would be the first time since January of 2016 that they were held under 40 points in a single game.

Gibson also helped the defense with a steal, as the Saints forced Drexel into 12 turnovers. Junior Sabrina Piper added eight points in the effort, going 2-for-4 from behind the three-point arc. Classmate Maddie Sims was held down with only two points, but snagged a team-high nine rebounds. Senior Deja Rawls grabbed four rebounds and tossed out a team-high three assists.

Drexel was led by a 19-point effort from Bailey Greenberg, who also had five rebounds on her stat line. Aubree Brown had the better all-around game for the Dragons, as she had 12 points and eight assists, playing a team-high 39 minutes. Drexel had eight different scorers on the night, while Siena had seven.
The Dragons out-rebounded the Saints 39-25, with the advantage coming in the offensive rebounding, 13-5.

The Saints trailed early as Drexel built up a six point lead through the first 10 minutes. That would be their biggest lead of the half, as Siena opened the second quarter with five points to pull back within one. Freshman Margo Peterson made her only three-pointer of the night, backed by a layup from Gibson to come within one. That led to a tie game at 20-20, as freshman Amari Anthony also connected from deep to bring things even. The Saints wouldn't score over the final 4:02, but held Drexel to only three points over the span as the Dragons took a 23-20 lead into halftime.

Things stayed close during the start of the third quarter, as a layup by Sims at the 6:48 mark brought the Saints back within one. Despite a chance to tie the game at 25, Sims missed the back end of the and-one, and Drexel took advantage. They would hit back-to-back threes on consecutive possessions, and hit a jumper from Greenberg to put up a small 8-0 run and go up by nine points. But, the Saints fought back and only trailed by five going into the final quarter.

Drexel opened the quarter with a three-pointer from Niki Metzel, and went down by eight. The Saints had trouble finding offense in the final frame, as the scored only seven points over the final 10 minutes. Drexel also struggled, but opened up a 12 point lead to take the victory.

The Saints return to the floor tomorrow evening, as they will play in the consolation game of the TD Bank Classic against Wagner. Tip off for the game is set for 7 p.m.