LOUDONVILLE, NY – Coming off a nine-day hiatus from play following its first loss of the season, Siena Women's Basketball is back in home action Tuesday evening at the UHY Center. The Saints (2-1) will play host to NEC foe Merrimack (1-5) on Tuesday, November 28, with tip-off set for 7 PM in Loudonville.
Tuesday's contest can be viewed on ESPN+, with Kelly O'Donnell and Brian Rubino on the call, and can be heard locally on 88.3 FM The Saints or anywhere on iHeartRadio. Pregame coverage tips off at 6:30 P.M., with the radio "Voice of the Saints"
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 X page @Siena_WBB. Join the conversation by using the hashtags #MarchOn, #SienaSaints, and #MAACHoops.
Tuesday's game will come as part of Siena College's Homecoming for the Holidays, with a full week of activities planned for the Siena community as part of the third annual Homecoming celebration.
After starting 2-0 for the first time in nine years, the Green and Gold suffered its first loss on November 19 at the hands of Ivy League foe Penn in their home opener to the tune of an 85-79 battle. Siena erased a nine-point halftime deficit, but could not overcome a monster fourth quarter finish from the Quakers. Junior
Anajah Brown and sophomore
Elisa Mevius each led the way with 18 points, while junior
Valencia Fontenelle-Posson added 15 and sophomore
Teresa Seppala dropped 14 in her season debut.
Mevius currently leads the league and ranks second nationally in both minutes per-game (38.79) and steals per-game (5.00), while ranking second in total steals (15). Brown is second in the MAAC in field goal percentage (53.6) and third in rebounds per-game (8.7), while Jackson stands third in three-pointers per-game (2.67).
Merrimack represents one of two first-time opponents for the Saints this season - the other being the Big 12's Cincinnati on December 21. Having recently wrapped up a four-year transition to Division I, the Warriors will face eight total first-time opponents during the 2023-24 season.
The team's nine-day gap in-between games is the second-longest this season, with the other coming between December 21 - January 5. Siena received six votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Basketball Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.
Siena takes the court against newly-transitioned NCAA Division I program Merrimack for the first time ever, marking the first of two meetings this season against first-time opponents (Cincinnati). The Warriors also mark the only opponent out of the Northeast Conference (NEC) that Siena sees this year. Head Coach
Jim Jabir has never faced off with Merrimack during his 36-year head coaching career, while assistant coach
Heather Stec previously served as an assistant there from 2014-18.
Led by fourth-year head coach Kelly Morrone, Merrimack comes in at 1-5 on the season and picked up its first win of the year just before Thanksgiving in the form of a 65-60 win over Bryant on November 21. The Warriors went on to fall at #10 Utah in a 98-34 beatdown last Friday, and will wrap up a stint of five of six contests away from home on Tuesday. They are led offensively by freshman Paloma Garcia with 11.4 points per-game off the bench.
Season tickets for the 2023-24 Siena Women's Basketball season starting at just $126 for all home games are on-sale now, and can be purchased online or by contacting the Siena Fan Relations Management Center by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu or by phone at (518) 487-2202 during traditional business hours. Individual game tickets for all 13 of Siena Women's Basketball's home contests during the 2023-24 season are also available – beginning at $10 for adults and $7 for children.
