BURLINGTON, VT – After taking the road for the first time this season earlier in the week, Siena Women's Basketball (2-3) heads north to take part in Thanksgiving weekend tournament action. The Saints will compete at the TD Bank Classic inside Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vermont for the third time in program history, facing Oakland on Saturday, November 26 at 3 PM and either Stonehill or host Vermont on Sunday, November 27 at Noon or 3 PM.
This weekend's contests can be viewed on either America East TV or ESPN+, and can be heard locally on 88.3 FM The Saints or anywhere on iHeartRadio. Pregame coverage tips off at 1:30 p.m., with the radio "Voice of the Saints" Joe Mixie and longtime color commentator Steve Amedio on the call. Fans can also follow along with the corresponding live stats link, while continuous in-game press row updates will be provided via the women's basketball team's official twitter page @Siena_WBB. Join the conversation by using the hashtags #MarchOn, #SienaSaints, and #MAACHoops.
Siena began the third week of the season by returning a home-and-home at Duquesne, marking the team's first action in Pittsburgh in a decade. The Saints fell to the Dukes, 92-73, despite keeping pace with their A-10 foes for the first quarter-and-a-half of play. Duquesne placed five players in double-figure scoring while leading by as many as 22, marking the Saints' largest deficit of the year thus far. Freshman Elisa Mevius became the first Saint to eclipse the 20-point mark this season with 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while sophomore Anajah Brown went for a season-best 14 points. The pair were joined in double-figure scoring by junior Ahniysha Jackson and freshman Teresa Seppala, who each went for ten.
Siena has claimed MAAC Rookie of the Week honors in both weeks to begin the 2022-23 campaign, with Seppala most recently doing so on Monday after averaging 11 points and seven boards in two contests last week. Mevius was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week on November 14 after posting 16 points in her collegiate debut to help the Saints win their season opener over New Hampshire. Siena has claimed multiple Rookie of the Week honors and has done so in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2016, and has now had two different players take home a Rookie of the Week honor in the same season for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.
After starting the season with its longest home stand to begin a campaign since 2010-11, Siena now embarks on its second-longest stretch away from home during the regular season (three games), and will spend seven of its nine contests away from the Capital Region to finish the 2022 calendar year.
Siena will compete in regular season neutral site competition (not including MAAC Tournament) for the first time since going 1-1 in the 2018 edition of the TD Bank Classic. Before falling to Drexel and defeating Wagner at the tournament four years ago, Siena fell to Green Bay and defeated North Florida in its TD Bank Classic in 2013. Siena owns a 43-44 overall record when playing at a neutral site. The team's last regular season tournament victory came in 2002 when the Saints defeated Hartford and St. Joseph's to win the Hawk Classic in Philadelphia.
Siena currently leads the MAAC in scoring offense (66.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.00), while ranking second in rebounding (42.6), steals per-game (11.8), three-point attempts (128), turnover margin (5.4), and turnovers per-game (14.6). Its three-point attempts mark is good for 40th nationally, while its steals mark is good for 43rd. Having recorded ten total blocks, Brown currently leads the MAAC and ranks 35th nationally in swats per-game.
Six different Saints have scored in double figures through the first five games of the season, with Seppala and Brown each doing so in four of five contests. Four of the six are freshmen, with Seppala (four), Mevius (two), London Gamble (one) and Angel Jones (one) all doing so.
Siena will see teams that it has not faced off with either ever or in recent memory this weekend, with the team's last meeting with Oakland coming in the form of an 87-67 defeat in Michigan in 2008, while its last matchup with Vermont came on January 1, 2007 in the form of a 76-56 Catamount victory. The Saints have never faced Stonehill – who is in the first year of transitioning to the NCAA Division I level – and the matchup would mark the second first-time foe (Mount St. Mary's) on the schedule this season. Coach Jabir is 5-2 all-time against Vermont and 5-1 while at Siena, and has never faced the Golden Grizzlies or the Skyhawks.
Hailing from Rochester, Michigan out of the Horizon League, Oakland is 2-2 on the season and holds wins over Akron (74-67) and Central Michigan (71-60). The Golden Grizzlies started 2-0 before falling in their last two matchups to Power Five opponents Michigan State (85-39) and Illinois (84-55). Oakland is 31st nationally in free throws made per-game (16.5), and are led offensively by sophomore Kennedie Montue, who averages 12 points per-game.
Siena will face either the 1-4 Stonehill Skyhawks or the 2-3 Vermont Catamounts on Sunday, with both teams entering the tournament off of pre-Thanksgiving victories. Stonehill took a 62-35 victory over Hartford last Monday, while the host team used Monday to defeat Army West Point by a score of 60-37. Vermont holds a 15-14 all-time advantage over the Saints, and carries the America East's leading assist-getter (Emma Utterback, 6.2) and shooter by field goal percentage (Anna Olson, 55.1). Stonehill's Maddie Loder leads the team offensively with 10.6 points per-game.
