A last second shot from Niagara's Ally Harr decided the Siena Women's Basketball season on Thursday, as the Saints fell to the Purple Eagles in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Quarterfinals by a final score of 60-59.
After the Saints held the Purple Eagles without a field goal for over four minutes down the stretch, Harr's game-winner dropped through the net with 7.7 seconds to play, as her floater game Niagara the one point lead. Siena had a chance to win it on the other end, but saw their chances fall short.
Niagara received a 16-point effort from Angel Parker, while sister Aaliyah scored 13 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. Harr finished with eight points, including the game's most important two.
Siena was led by a 19 point, eight rebound showing from fifth-year
Selena Philoxy. Philoxy also added four steals, while fifth-year
Rayshel Brown scored 15 points. Also in double-figures was freshman
Valencia Fontenelle-Posson, as she scored 12 points – mostly from the free throw stripe.
Much of the game was a dead lock battle, as both sides played to a 15-all tie after 10 minutes, followed by a Niagara one-point, 32-31 lead at the half. Both sides shot over 50% in the first half, however the Saints went just 1-for-11 from long distance in the first half while Niagara went 5-for-15.
The Purple Eagles flew out to an eight-point lead early in the second half, but the Saints cut the lead to just three by the end of the third quarter. In the fourth, Siena finally grabbed the lead with 3:40 to play after a pair of free throws from senior
Margo Peterson. The lead would grow to three with 1:32 to play, but quickly shrank after a Siena intentional foul.
Niagara converted the free throws, trailing by just one point with 1:13 to play after a missed shot. The Saints then forced the Purple Eagles into a shot clock violation, regaining possession with 39 seconds to play. However, a Siena turnover four seconds later gave Niagara their offensive opportunity, which Haar took advantage of for the win.
The Saints close out the season with an 10-19 record, with a 10-10 mark in the regular season in MAAC play. The 10 conference wins are the most since the Saints won 11 in 2018-19.