JERSEY CITY, NJ – Siena Women's Basketball will look to begin a fresh week of MAAC action on a high note as it travels south in search of a series sweep over a MAAC foe. The Saints (13-8, 7-4) will look to take care of business against Saint Peter's (0-20, 0-11) on Thursday, February 2, with tip-off at Run Baby Run Arena in Jersey City, New Jersey set for 7 PM.
Thursday's contest can be viewed live on ESPN3 with Drew Casey 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.
After beginning 2023 with four of its first five contests at home, the Saints are currently in a stretch of three of five contests away from the UHY Center. The Green and Gold will look to secure their third series sweep over an opponent (Fairfield, Rider) so far this season, which would match their most sweeps in a season since the 2016-17 campaign (four).
Siena dropped a road test at MAAC preseason favorite Quinnipiac last Saturday to the tune of a 68-63 decision. The Saints held a nine-point lead in the first quarter, but would not overcome a 16-point, 20-rebound performance from the Bobcats' Mary Baskerville. Freshman Teresa Seppala led the team with 17 points, while sophomores Anajah Brown (13) and Emina Selimovic (10) also finished in double figures.
Siena has now claimed nine of the 12 total MAAC Rookie of the Week honors handed out so far this season, with Seppala winning the award in each of the past four 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, Jan 23, and Jan. 30. Siena has now earned both nine 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 (67.3), defensive rebounds per-game (28.0), and three-point percentage defense (27.6), while ranking second in assist/turnover ratio (0.79), rebound margin (+4.7), rebounding (41.9), scoring margin (+5.5), and steals per-game (9.3). Individually, Brown leads the league in total rebounds (158), while ranking third in rebounds per-game (7.5). Mevius is third in both total assists (93) and assists per-game (4.4), while junior Ahniysha Jackson is third in three-point attempts (132), and three-point percentage (31.8).
Siena has now started the year 9-3 in home contests for the first time since 2005-06, and has matched the program's best home start through 12 home games since the 2001-02 season (10-2). During the month of January, the Saints went 5-1 over six scheduled home games, marking the first time since January 2011 that the team hosted six home games in a single month.
The Saints and the Peacocks will face off for the 80th time since 1980, with Siena carrying in a 44-35 all-time advantage. The most recent meeting in the series – a 94-45 Siena triumph at the UHY Center on Jan. 14, featured both the most points scored by one team and the largest margin of victory in 79 total meetings, with Siena matching its most points in a game since 2001, and recording its largest margin of victory in a game since 1994. A 60-point first half culminated with the Saints shooting 54 percent from the field, with Seppala leading the way with 24 points. Brown (13), junior Ahniysha Jackson (11), and sophomore Valencia Fontenelle-Posson (10) also got into double figures. The Green and Gold will look to end a four-game losing skid in Jersey City, with its last win at Saint Peter's coming on Jan. 4, 2019. The Peacocks took a 70-59 decision over the Saints in last year's battle at Rub Baby Run Arena on Feb. 10, 2022.
One of only two remaining winless teams in the nation, Saint Peter's will aim to end a 21-game losing skid overall. The Peacocks have fallen by greater than 20 points in three of their last five games, and have failed to score more than 50 points in each of the last six contests. The team is led offensively by Jada Williams, who leads them in both scoring (10.2) and rebounding (6.8).
