LOUDONVILLE, NY – After concluding a three-game stint away from home last week, Siena Women's Basketball returns to the UHY Center for a pair of contests to begin the month of December. The Saints (3-4) will battle Dartmouth (1-5) for the first time since 2006 on Saturday, December 3 at 2 PM, before facing off against Binghamton (4-4) for the second straight season on Monday, December 5 at 7 PM.
Both home contests can be viewed live on ESPN+, with the "Voice of the Saints" Emmanuel Berbari and Curt Bailey handing broadcaster duties on Saturday, and Berbari and Conner Fenlon doing so on Monday. Both games can also be heard locally on 88.3 FM The Saint or anywhere on iHeartRadio. Pregame coverage tips off at 1:30 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.
Saturday's contest will also serve as a Toys for Tots Drive, with the Saints teaming up with Capital Region Toys for Tots and the Marine Corps Reserve to collect gifts for children in need. Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to this Saturday's game will receive a voucher for a $2 savings on tickets to the New Year's Day game on Sunday, Jan. 1 when the Siena women host Canisius. Marine Corps Reserve volunteers with Toys for Tots will collect donations from the time doors open until halftime.
Returning home in the midst of a stretch of seven of nine games away from home from Nov. 22 – Dec. 29, The Saints went 1-1 in their return to the TD Bank Classic last weekend, beginning with a 78-71 win over Oakland on Nov. 26 to put them in the Championship Game of the tournament for the first time in three trips. Siena overcame an eight-point deficit and tied its most points scored in a game on the season, with sophomore Valencia Fontenelle-Posson (19 points) and sophomore Emina Selimovic (ten points, eight rebounds), both posting career bests. The Saints would fall in a 57-51 battle to host Vermont the next day, with freshman London Gamble tying a collegiate best with 11 points.
Siena has now claimed MAAC Rookie of the Week honors in each of the first three weeks to begin the 2022-23 campaign, with Elisa Mevius winning the award for the second time this year after averaging 11 .3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assist in three games last week. Classmate Teresa Seppala won Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 21, while Mevius took home the award for the first time on Nov. 14. Siena has now earned three MAAC weekly awards in a single season for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, and has taken three MAAC Rookie of the Week honors for the first time since 2015-16.
Siena currently leads the MAAC in scoring offense (66.1) and field goal percentage defense (37.2 percent), while ranking second in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.79), rebound margin (-0.1), offensive (14.0) and defensive (27.4) rebounds per-game, overall rebounds per-game (41.43), steals per-game (11.4), turnover margin (3.29), turnovers forced per-game (20), and turnovers per-game (42.9). Individually, sophomore Anajah Brown leads the MAAC in total blocks (12) and field goal percentage (58.1), while junior Ahniysha Jackson is first in the league in three-point attempts (53).
Eight different Saints have scored in double figures through the first seven games of the season, with Brown doing so in five of seven contests. Four of the six are freshmen, with Seppala (four), Mevius (two), London Gamble (two) and Angel Jones (one) all doing so.
Siena boasts arguably the youngest team in the country, with nine true freshmen, 11 total newcomers, and 13 total underclassmen out of 16 players on its roster.
Siena and Dartmouth are set to face off for the first time since the Big Green took an 86-82 overtime victory at the then-Alumni Recreation Center on Jan. 2, 2006, while the Saints and the Bearcats will face off for the second straight season and the third time in four years, with the Bearcats claiming a 59-55 win in Siena's 2021-22 season opener. Siena owns an 8-5 all-time advantage over Dartmouth since 1992, while Binghamton leads the all-time series, 5-3, since 2009. The Green and Gold have won four of the last five over Dartmouth, and will look to claim a home victory over Binghamton for the first time since 2013.
At 1-5 on the season under second year head coach Adrienne Shibes, Dartmouth most recently fell by only one point to common opponent Vermont on Thursday, 67-66, in Hanover, with the Catamounts hitting a game-winning three point shot to come away with the win. The Big Green also previously played New Hampshire to A 59-56 loss, and will meet a third common opponent in UAlbany on Dec. 6. Three of the Big Green's five losses have come in single digits this season. The team's top scorer comes in the form of freshman Olivia Lawlor, who averages 10.4 points per-game thus far.
A return opponent on the Saints' schedule, Binghamton is 4-4 as of writing, and will host MAAC counterpart Fairfield on Saturday prior to traveling to Loudonville. The Bearcats fell in a pair of contests at the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament in Florida last week, and most recently dropped a 71-48 decision to Cornell. They played MAAC foe Canisius to a 75-72 victory on November 20, and will become Siena's fourth opponent out of the America East Conference this season, marking the first time ever that the Saints have faced four non-league foes from the same conference in a single campaign. Picked to finish fifth in their league, the Bearcats are led offensively by Preseason All-AEC selection Denai Bowman, who averages 11.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per-contest.
