LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – After enduring a season-long ten-day stretch without a game which extended through the Christmas holiday weekend, Siena Women's Basketball is back at it on Thursday evening to conclude the 2022 calendar year. The Saints (6-5, 0-1) head south to face MAAC foe Rider (3-8, 0-2) in search of their first league win of the season on Thursday, December 29 at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, with tip-off set for 7 PM.
Thursday's contest can be viewed live on ESPN3 with Jon Mozes and Maren Walseth on the call, 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.
Taking the court for only the fifth time in the month of December, the Saints are in search of their first conference win of the 2022-23 season after dropping a tight 65-59 decision at new league foe Mount St. Mary's on December 19. The team rebounded from a 14-point third quarter deficit to tie the game with under four minutes to go but could not complete the comeback attempt, shooting only 40 percent (6-15) from the free throw line. The Saints fell short despite out-shooting the Mountaineers with 40 percent from the field on the game, and holding a 49-34 rebound margin. Freshman Elisa Mevius led the team with 14 points, while sophomore Anajah Brown turned in a double-double for the third straight game with 12 points and a career-best 13 boards.
Thursday's contest concludes the team's 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. Under the direction of head coach Jim Jabir for the second season, Siena has compiled its most regular season victories in a calendar year (16) since 2017. Prior to the loss, Siena was off to a 3-0 start in the month of December for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, and started 6-4 for the first time since 2014-15 (started 7-4, finished 22-13). The team also won three consecutive non-conference contests for the first time in eight years.
Siena currently leads the MAAC in field goal percentage defense (36.7), rebounds per-game (42.91), and defensive rebounds per-game (28.5), while ranking second in rebound margin (+2.8), offensive rebounds per-game (14.4), scoring offense (64.8), and steals per-game (9.7). Individually, Brown leads the MAAC in field goal percentage (57.1) and total rebounds (90), while ranking second in rebounds per-game (8.2), total blocks (17) and blocks per-game (1.6). Mevius steadies the league in free throw percentage (79.1).
Siena claimed MAAC Rookie of the Week honors in each of the first five weeks to begin the 2022-23 campaign. Mevius won Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 14, Nov. 28, and Dec. 5, while classmate Teresa Seppala earned honors on Nov. 21 & Dec. 12. 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.
Following its final road game of 2022, Siena will return home for a three-game home stand to ring in the new year, beginning with a New Year's Day matinee against Canisius on Sunday at 1 PM. The Saints will have a short turnaround with a Kid's Day contest on Thursday, January 5 at 11 AM against Fairfield, and will round out the week with "Meet The Team Day" against Marist on Saturday, January 7 at 2 PM. At 4-2 thus far on the season at home, Siena is off to its best start in the Capital Region since 2017-18.
With the series beginning upon Rider's entry into the MAAC in 1997, the Saints own a 36-17 all-time advantage, with a season split occurring during the 2021-22 campaign. After falling in its 2021-22 MAAC opener to the Broncs, the Saints turned in a road rout in the most recent meeting between the pair, taking home its largest margin of victory in 11 years in an 82-44 decision at Alumni Gymnasium on January 20, 2022. Siena held a 53-39 rebounding advantage, with Brown recording 15 points and ten boards for her first career double-double. The Broncs were held to just seven points in the third quarter, while the Saints led by as many as 40 points in the second half, held a 16-0 advantage in points off of turnovers, 21-0 lead in second chance points, and 40-16 lead in paint points.
The win gave the Green and Gold their first victory in Lawrenceville since 2017 and their third in the last four tries overall against their MAAC rivals. Siena will now aim for back-to-back road wins at Rider for the first time since 2011 & 2012. Siena won ten consecutive meetings in the series from 2008-12. The most recent meeting also marked the most points Siena has scored in a single game (82) since Jan. 6, 2020 (83).
At 3-8 on the season thus far, Rider enters Thursday's matchup also in search of its first conference victory of the season, and will look to end a four-game losing skid. The Broncs commenced league action by traveling to Buffalo last weekend and dropping identical 74-67 contests at Canisius and Niagara. Returning all five starters from last season, Rider is led offensively by Preseason Third Team All-MAAC selection Makayla Firebaugh, who averages 14.5 points per-game and was named the MAAC Player of the Week back on November 21. The Broncs lead the league in three-pointers made per-game with an average of 7.5, while point guard Amanda Mobley is the top assist-getter in the MAAC at 6.5 per-game, and averages a league-leading 34 minutes per-game.
