Following a nine-day lull after beginning the month of December with three straight wins, Siena Women's Basketball is back in action Monday evening to begin the program's 34th season of play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Saints (6-4) will meet new league foe Mount St. Mary's (4-5, 0-1) for the first time ever on Monday, December 19, with tip-off set for 7 PM at Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Monday's contest can be viewed live on ESPN3, and can be heard locally on 88.3 FM The Saint or anywhere on iHeartRadio. Pregame coverage tips off at 6:30 p.m., with 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.
Off to a 3-0 start in the month of December for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, Siena has started 6-4 for the first time since 2014-15 (started 7-4, finished 22-13), and will aim to win its first four games of a calendar month since starting 5-0 in the month of January during the 2015-16 season. The team has also won three consecutive non-conference contests for the first time in eight years. The program last started 4-0 in the Month of December in 2001, when they won all six of their December matchups as part of a program record-tying 19-game win streak.
Siena is in the midst of its longest regular season stretch away from home this season (three games), and six of eight games from Nov. 22 - Dec. 29 outside of the Capital Region.
Head Coach Jim Jabir will coach his 1000th career game at the helm of a collegiate women's basketball program on Monday, becoming just the 17th active women's basketball coach across all levels of the NCAA to have done so. Jabir is in the midst of his second stint and fifth total season at Siena and his 35th total season, with 530 total wins putting him at 26th among active NCAA Division I coaches.
The Saints continued their hot start to the month with a 62-58 win at Colgate on December 10, with freshman Teresa Seppala tying a career high with 15 points and sophomore Anajah Brown recording a double-double for the second straight contest with ten points and 12 rebounds. The team shot an impressive 46 percent from the floor and held a 41-34 advantage on the glass, while going 8-16 from beyond-the-arc after not making a single three-pointer (0-13) in the previous game against Binghamton.
Siena has claimed MAAC Rookie of the Week honors in each of the first five weeks to begin the 2022-23 campaign, with Seppala taking home her second award last week after averaging 11 points and six rebounds over two contests. Classmate Elisa Mevius won Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 14, Nov. 28, and Dec. 5, while Seppala earned her first honor on Nov. 21. Siena has now earned both five MAAC weekly awards and four MAAC Rookie of the Week honors in a single season since the 2014-15 season, when it captured 13 total weekly honors and then-freshman Margot Hetzke won MAAC Rookie of Week accolades nine times.
All eight members of the Green and Gold got on the scoresheet in the win over Colgate, marking the fourth such occurrence for the Saints thus far this season. Three times all eight players in a game have scored, while once all nine have done so.
Siena currently leads the MAAC in field goal percentage defense (28.4), rebounds per-game (42.3), and defensive rebounds per-game (28.4), while ranking second in rebound margin (+1.4), offensive rebounds per-game (13.9), scoring margin (+1.3), scoring offense (65.4), steals per-game (10.3), and turnover margin (+1.5). Individually, Brown leads the MAAC in field goal percentage (58.0) and total rebounds (77), while ranking second in total blocks (16) and blocks per-game (1.6). Mevius ranks second in free throw percentage (77.5).
The Saints and the Mountaineers will meet for the first time in either program's history, representing Siena's only matchup with a first-time foe this season. Siena last faced a new conference opponent for the first time in league action on January 13, 2014, when it took a 64-49 home loss to Monmouth, who departed the MAAC for the CAA following the conclusion of last season.
The Saints are 16-17 in conference openers since joining the MAAC in 1989, and will look to start 1-0 in league play for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Siena owns a 339-297 (.533) all-time record during 33 previous league campaigns. The Green and Gold will embark on their first trip to the state of Maryland since taking part in the Navy Classic in November 2015, where they took home a win over Maryland foe Morgan State on November 28, 2015 to mark their most recent win over a team from the Old Line State.
The matchup with Mount St. Mary's marks the second opponent that Coach Jabir will see for the first time in his 35-year coaching career this season, having previously led Siena to a 78-71 victory over Oakland back on November 26. Siena is 1-1 during MAAC openers under Coach Jabir, with the team claiming its first-ever MAAC victory under his leadership in the form of a 67-65 win over Niagara on December 8, 1989, while taking a 59-43 home loss against Rider last season on December 20, 2021.
The two-time defending champions of the Northeast Conference, Mount St. Mary's fell in its first MAAC contest Saturday by a score of 64-46 at Manhattan, ending a three-game win streak. The Mountaineers lead the conference in three-pointers attempted per-game this season with an average of 26, but rank ninth in three-point shooting percentage at just 24.8 percent. Picked to finish eighth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll just above Siena, The Mount are led by graduate student Michaela Harrison, who sits at fifth in the MAAC with 14 points per-game. Mount St. Mary's also carries a familiar face to Siena on the sidelines, with former Siena assistant coach Joe Haigh (2019-21) serving in the same role for The Mount.
