HANOVER, NH – Not every win is pretty, but every win counts, and for Siena's Women's Basketball, two straight games have been won to start a season for the first time in nine years.

The Saints (2-0) pulled out their second straight road win to begin the 2023-24 campaign on Sunday afternoon, taking home a gutsy 56-49 win over Dartmouth (0-2) at Leede Arena in Hanover, New Hampshire.

After beginning the season with a nine-point triumph at Binghamton last Thursday, the Green and Gold are 2-0 both overall and on the road for the first time since the 2014-15 season, and have done so for the ninth season overall.

Following an opening period in which neither team led by more than two, Siena kicked off the second quarter with the first seven and nine of first 12 points, including five straight points from sophomore Elisa Mevius to bookend the stanzas, and a clutch three-pointer from senior Ahniysha Jackson to put the visitors up eight with just over five minutes left in the half.

The Big Green trimmed the visitors' lead to three and briefly went up within a possession in the early minutes of the third quarter, but their lack of execution paired with a steady stream of three-pointers allowed the Saints to keep them at arm's length, including consecutive triples made by Jackson within a 30 second period midway through the third quarter.

A double-double from Dartmouth true freshman Nina Minicozzi and solid interior play kept the Big Green around, but Siena endured a slow final ten minutes that featured just 14 combined points between the squads to finish with three players in double-figure scoring.

In the absence of sophomore Teresa Seppala for the second straight game due to competing with the Finnish National Team and with junior Anajah Brown held down due to foul trouble, Mevius produced her first collegiate double-double with 11 and a career-best 11 rebounds to go with a team-high six assists and three steals while refraining from turning the ball over for the first time in 34 collegiate appearances. Jackson and junior Valencia Fontenelle-Posson led the team with 12 points each, while sophomore London Gamble finished with a game-best +12 differential during her 25 minutes of play off the bench.

Siena corralled the win despite shooting just 31.2 percent from the field and being outrebounded, 46-44, but held Dartmouth to 29.3 percent from the field and connected on 11 of 30 three-point attempts. The Saints also recorded 13 of 16 fast break points in the game and forced 17 turnovers from an opponent for the second straight game while committing only 13.

Playing a laundry list of 13 total players in the contest, Dartmouth was led in scoring by Victoria Page with 11 points, while Minicozzi finished with ten points and boards and Cate MacDonald also turned in ten rebounds.

Siena will look to advance to 3-0 for what would be the fifth time in program history and would match the program's best start when it hosts Ivy League foe Penn on Sunday, November 19 at 2 PM inside the UHY Center for its 2023-24 home opener.