LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Siena Saints women's basketball program return to the Alumni Recreation Center for the first time in 2019-20 on Saturday night, as they face the Sacred Heart Pioneers at 7 p.m. It will be the first matchup between the two programs in Loudonville since 2017-18, when the Saints took a 62-57 victory.
2019-20 Siena Women's Basketball season and individual game tickets are on-sale now. Season tickets for all 11 home games at the Alumni Recreation Center start at just $70 for reserved chair back seating, with courtside seats only $100. Individual game tickets are priced at $10 for adult chair back seats, $8 for both adult and senior general admission, and $5 for children's tickets. Both Siena Women's Basketball season and individual game tickets can be purchased by contacting the Siena Fan Relations Management Center during traditional business hours Monday-Friday at (518) 487-2202, online at sienasaints.com/tickets, or by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu.
Follow the game by clicking on the live stats link at the top of the page, or by tuning into Siena's ESPN3 broadcast featuring A.J. Kanell and Tehresa Coles. You can also listen to the game via Siena All Access radio broadcast, where
Joe Mixie and Steve Amedio will have the call for WVCR 88.3 The Saint. Click the corresponding links to follow along with the game coverage.
Continuous in-game press box updates will be provided via the women's basketball team's official twitter page @sienawomenshoop. Join the conversation by using the hashtags #MarchOn, #SienaSaints, and #MAACHoops.
Social media updates will be provided courtside throughout the day via the Saints' official twitter page @sienawomenshoop. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #MarchOn during the game.
Siena is looking to snag their first win of the season after an 0-3 start against three senior-laden programs in Binghamton, Penn, and Harvard. The Saints, despite their inexperience, have leaned on senior
Sabrina Piper and freshman
Julia Hauer so far this season. Piper has scored in double-figures each of the first three games, averaging 17.3 points, while Hauer put up her first career double-double Tuesday night in Cambridge. Junior
Marilena Gerostergiou has become a pleasant dual threat option, as she's averaged 10.3 points per game, second to only Piper this season, while averaging 6.3 rebounds, second to only Hauer.
In the series history, Siena and Sacred Heart will be squaring off for the tenth time on Saturday evening, with the first meeting of the series coming in 2009-10. Head Coach
Ali Jaques is 3-3 against the Pioneers as a head coach at Siena - with the only season the Saints haven't face the Pioneers since she took the helm was 2015-16.
The last time these two teams met was last season on Nov. 13, 2018.
Sabrina Piper led all Siena Saints scorers, as she put up a season-high 11 points as the Green and Gold fell in a loss on the road to the Sacred Heart Pioneers last November by a final score of 72-50. The game was Siena's first road game of the season in 2018-19. The Saints had redshirt senior
Joella Gibson score seven points while grabbing seven rebounds. Lala Watts collected nine points and eight rebounds. Siena turned the ball over 17 times and shot 14-for-37 from the free throw line, as they struggled in those departments. Sacred Heart had four players score in double figures, led by the sharp shooting of Erin Storck. She would go 6-for-9 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range for a game-high 17 points.
Sacred Heart had a successful 2018-19 season, finishing 19-13 overall with a 14-4 mark in the NEC. The Pioneers have advanced to the NEC Tournament in all 20 seasons since joining the NEC and the NCAA Div. I ranks in 1999-00. The Pioneers own the longest-active NEC postseason streak at 20 straight seasons, the next-closest is Bryant at seven straight seasons. They would fall in the NEC Semifinals last season by a final score of 68-60 to Saint Francis but was granted a WNIT bid. They would play Georgetown in the first round of the 2019 WNIT, falling 90-59 in Washington, D.C.
