LOUDONVILLE, NY – Coming off one of the most prolific victories in recent memory, Siena Women's Basketball will aim to keep building momentum as one of the MAAC's top teams when it heads back out on the road on Thursday evening. The Saints (11-6, 5-2) head south for its first return trip of the year to the brand-new Leo D. Mahoney Area to take on defending MAAC champion Fairfield (9-7, 5-2) on Thursday, January 19, with tip-off set for 7 PM.
Thursday'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 10:30 a.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.
The Green and Gold shook off a road loss to Manhattan with a win that will not soon be forgotten, routing Saint Peter's at home last Saturday to the tune of a 94-45 victory. The team crossed the 90-point threshold for the first time since 2017 and matched its highest point total in 20 years, while recording its largest margin of victory in a contest (49 pts.) since 1994 and tying the program record for three-pointers made in a game, among other superlatives Freshman Teresa Seppala turned in a career-high 24 points to record the best offensive output by a Saint thus far this season.
At 11-6, the Saints are off to the program's best start through 17 contests since 2002-03 (12-5), and have now produced the team's most victories in four seasons (12 in 2018-19). Siena will next aim to clinch a winning record for the first time since finishing the year 17-14 during the 2017-18 campaign.
After beginning 2023 with four of its first five contests at home, the Saints will now embark on three of the next five contests away from the UHY Center. Siena has also started the year 8-2 in home contests for the first time since 2005-06, and has matched the program's best home start since 2000-01 (9-1). The Saints have six scheduled home games in the month of January, marking the first time since January 2011 that the team will host six home games in a single month.
Siena has claimed a league-best seven MAAC Rookie of the Week honors so far this season, with freshman Teresa Seppala winning the award in each of the past two weeks. The team also did so in each of the first five weeks of the year. Freshman Elisa Mevius won Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 14, Nov. 28, and Dec. 5, while Seppala has earned honors on Nov. 21, Dec. 12., Jan. 9, and Jan. 16. Siena has now earned both seven MAAC weekly awards and 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.
Siena's 94 points against Saint Peter's was the highest scoring total by a MAAC team in any game since Quinnipiac hung 113 on Hartford on Nov. 28, 2021, as well as the most by a MAAC opponent against a league foe since Marist scored 96 against the Peacocks on Jan. 4, 2020. All ten members of the Green and Gold got on the scoresheet in their win over Saint Peter's, marking the ninth such occurrence for the Saints thus far this season. Seven times all eight players in a game have scored, while once all nine have done so and once all ten have done so.
Siena currently leads the MAAC in scoring offense (66.8), rebounding (42.5), defensive rebounds per-game (28.4), and three point percentage defense (27.4), while ranking second in assist/turnover ratio (+0.78), assists per-game (14.2), field goal percentage defense (36.0), rebound margin (+5.1), scoring margin (+5.1), and steals per-game (9.4). Individually, sophomore Anajah Brown leads the league in total rebounds (130), while Mevius ranks second in both total assists (80), and assists per-game (4.7).
The Saints and the Stags are set to meet for the 83rd time since 1987, with Fairfield owning a 49-33 all-time advantage. Siena got the better of the Stags again at the UHY Center this season, taking a 61-46 victory on January 5, 2023 during its Kids Day contest to hand Fairfield its first MAAC loss of the year. The Saints led by as many as 16 while limiting what was at the time the top scoring offense in the MAAC to a season-low in points. Sophomore Emina Selimovic led the Green and Gold with a career-high 19 points, while Seppala dominated the glass with 13 rebounds. Siena claimed back-to-back home wins over its MAAC rivals for the first time since the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, and will now have a chance for a regular season sweep for the first time since 2010-11. Additionally, Siena heads south in search of a win at Fairfield for the first time since Feb. 21, 2015, and its first on Fairfield's campus since Dec. 6, 2001.
The defending MAAC champions have bounced back to win two of their last three contests since falling to the Saints, including a 52-50 win over Manhattan on Jan. 7 and a rough 43-34 triumph at Marist this past Saturday. The Stags dropped a 70-62 overtime decision against Niagara in their own Kids Day contest on January 12 for their second MAAC loss. With an average of 62 points per-game, Fairfield ranks third in scoring in the MAAC, and is led by the conference's second leading scorer in graduate student Callie Cavanaugh, who tallies 16.9 points per-game. Cavanaugh was held to eight points and ten rebounds against Siena in the first meeting between the pair.
