LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Women's Basketball will look to strike gold Thursday evening as it remains home to try and shake off a loss to end last week. The Saints (12-7, 6-3) will host MAAC foe Rider (5-14, 2-8) at the UHY Center on Thursday, January 26 at 7 PM in search of a season sweep of the Broncs for the second time in three seasons.
Saturday's contest will serve as the team's Gold Rush Game presented by Dollar General Distribution of Amsterdam. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free Gold Rush rally towel, and all fans are encouraged to be loud and wear gold to light up the UHY Center.
Thursday's contest can be viewed live on ESPN+, with the "Voice of the Saints" Emmanuel Berbari and Brian Rubino on the call 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.
Siena looks to get back in the win column as it takes the court at home for the 12th time this season on Thursday evening. The Saints' Gold Rush game comes as they search for a season sweep over MAAC foe Rider. With a sweep, Siena will have swept two opponents for the second straight season. After beginning 2023 with four of its first five contests at home, the Saints are currently in a stretch of three of the next five contests away from the UHY Center.
The Green and Gold came up short against MAAC frontrunner Iona at the UHY Center last Saturday, with the Gaels pulling ahead for the final time of 14 lead changes to capture a 68-66 victory. Siena could not finish off a halftime lead for the first time this season, with the visitors led by a pair of 20-point performances. Freshman Teresa Seppala led the Saints with 17 points, while sophomore Anajah Brown turned in her fifth double-double of the season with ten points and ten rebounds.
Siena has started the year 8-3 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 are taking the court at home this month for the fourth time of 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 eight of the 11 total MAAC Rookie of the Week honors handed out so far this season, with Seppala winning the award in each of the past three 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, Jan. 16, and Jan 23. Siena has now earned both eight 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 currently leads the MAAC in scoring offense (66.1), rebounding (42.6), defensive rebounds per-game (28.8), and three-point percentage defense (27.6), while ranking second in field goal percentage defense (35.8), rebound margin (+5.7), and scoring margin (+4.7). Individually, Brown leads the league in total rebounds (149) and is second in rebounds per-game (7.8), while Mevius is third in total assists (84) and assists per-game (4.4). Junior Ahniysha Jackson is third in the MAAC in three-point attempts (124).
The Saints and the Broncs will face off for the 55th time since 1997, with Siena winners in four of the last five meetings while owning a 37-17 all-time advantage. Siena has dominated in each of the most recent two meetings, including earlier this season to the tune of a 24-point victory at Alumni Gymnasium to close the 2022 calendar year. The Saints held the Broncs to exactly 44 points for the second straight meeting in Lawrenceville, holding a 53-38 rebounding advantage and shooting 41 percent from the field. Four players went for double-figure scoring, led by 16 points and nine boards from sophomore Emina Selimovic. Despite falling to Rider at home last season, Siena has won two of the last three meetings at the UHY Center, and will look for its second season sweep of the Broncs in three seasons. The Saints will aim to complete the first stretch of three straight 20-point victories over their MAAC rivals for the first time since doing so from 2005-07.
The Broncs will look to end a three-game losing skid after dropping a close double-overtime contest at Fairfield last Saturday, and falling to the MAAC's top two squads in Niagara and Iona before that. The Broncs lead the MAAC as a team in both assist/turnover ratio (0.81) and assists per-game (14.7), while boasting the league leader in helps in Amanda Mobley, who's 115 assists are good for 13th nationally. The team also has the league leader in free throw percentage in Raphaela Toussaint (86%), and is led in scoring by Mikayla Firebaugh's 14.1 points per-game.
