LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Siena Women's Basketball team looks to get back-to-back wins after their 51-39 defeat of Monmouth last Thursday, as they open their weekend on Thursday night with a matchup with the Niagara Purple Eagles. The Saints and Purple Eagles squared off back on Feb. 9, as Niagara came back to defeat the Saints 68-61 in overtime.
Siena Women's Basketball individual game tickets are currently on-sale now for all remaining games. 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. Siena Women's Basketball 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 row 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.
Sophomore center Lala Watts created a new piece of Siena Women's Basketball history last Thursday evening, as she swatted eight total blocks to set a new program record as the Saints topped the Monmouth Hawks 51-39 at the Alumni Recreation Center. Watts' new record breaks the previous record of seven blocks in a game, previously done four times.
Putting up 12 total blocks as a team, the Saints also had the most blocks in a game since Jan. 20, 1990 in a 69-59 win against Boston University at home in the ARC. Also only giving up 39 points to the Hawks, the Saints held a team to under 40 points for the first time since Feb. 25, 2018 when the Green and Gold defeated Saint Peter's in the ARC 70-36. Out of the Green and Gold's four wins, two of them have come at home when Siena defeated Sacred Heart (Nov. 16), UAlbany (Dec. 7), and Monmouth (Jan. 23).
In the series history, Siena and Niagara will be squaring off for the 81st time on Thursday night, with
Ali Jaques holding a 7-8 record against the Purple Eagles as a head coach. Jaques stands 12 wins away from passing Joe Hogan on Siena's all-time coaching wins list, and collected her 100
th career win against the Purple Eagles in the ARC last season.
The last time these two teams met was back on Jan. 9. With a two-point lead in the closing seconds, a late foul call and two converted free throws sent the Siena Saints and Niagara Purple Eagles to overtime. In their first dive into extra time this season, the Green and Gold would fall just short, 68-61, in their first game of two in western New York this season.
The Saints saw a near triple-double from senior
Sabrina Piper, who snagged a season-high 12 rebounds along with nine points and nine assists. Junior
Rayshel Brown and freshman
Julia Hauer each scored 12 points as Hauer also added a team-high four steals. Sophomore
Amari Anthony collected the second double-digit rebound game of her career, getting 10 rebounds, five on each side of the floor. Sophomore Lala Watts scored 11 points and added three blocks.
Siena is currently among one of their best seasons in regards to attendance in recent memory. Through seven home games at the ARC, the Saints have averaged 1,149 fans – their highest total since the Green and Gold in 2003-04 averaged 1,422.
