In a brunch edition of Siena Women's Basketball with their second 11 a.m. start of the season, the Saints struggled to find offense as they would fall to the first-place Quinnipiac Bobcats 68-31 on the road Friday morning. The Green and Gold now fall to 8-10 overall on the season, but remain over .500 in MAAC play at 4-3.
The Bobcats, who is one of 18 Division I programs in the country to win three or more NCAA Tournament games in the past two seasons, remain undefeated in MAAC play with a 7-0 record, and a 12-6 mark overall.
Siena was led by junior
Sabrina Piper, as she put up a team-high eight points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Redshirt senior
Joella Gibson and junior
Maddie Sims each added six points, as the former also provided seven rebounds and four assists, while the ladder also notched a 10-rebound day.
Aryn McClure led the Quinnipiac offense with a 16-point game, while Paige Warfel chipped in with 12 points and Brittany Martin with 10 points. Warfel added 10 rebounds for a double-double, while Mackenzie DeWees also added 10 rebounds for the Bobcats as well.
Defense was the name of the game early on, as each team struggled to score in the opening minutes. Quinnipiac would finally break the ice over halfway to go in the quarter, as Paige Warfel hit a three-pointer to open the scoring just before the first media timeout. Piper would land the first and only basket for the Saints at the 3:18 mark in the quarter, as the score stood 8-2 after the first 10 minutes. Siena continued to struggle on offense in the second quarter, as Quinnipiac found their groove and took a 29-9 lead into halftime.
Siena would have their best offensive output in the third quarter, as they almost outscored the Bobcats in the quarter by putting up 17 points. Sophomore
Marilena Gerostergiou would sink a layup and three pointer in consecutive possessions, while the tandem of Gibson to Sims for layups on a pair of back-to-back possessions kick started the Siena offense in the quarter. However, things would cool off once again in the fourth as Quinnipiac held the Saints to another single-digit quarter to seal the win.
The Saints return to the floor this Sunday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. when they play host to the Saint Peter's Peacocks at the Alumni Recreation Center.
