LOUDONVILLE, NY– After enjoying a bye to begin the week, Siena women's Basketball is set to take the court at home for the final time this season Saturday evening. The Saints (17-10, 11-4) will celebrate its class of 2023 while looking for a series split with MAAC foe Quinnipiac (9-8, 14-4) on Saturday, February 25, with tip-off set for 7 PM at the UHY Center.
Saturday's contest can be viewed live on ESPN3 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 6:30 PM, 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.
Saturday's contest will serve as the team's Senior Night, with lone senior Sevval Istanbulluoglu and senior team manager Amanda Motyka honored in a pregame ceremony prior to tip-off.
 The Saints got back in the win column last Saturday with a 77-49 rout at Marist, with Siena holding the Red Foxes to just three points in the first quarter. In what may have been the final matchup between the Saints and retiring Marist head coach Brian Georgis, the Green and Gold prevailed with the second-largest victory over a Georgis-coached team in 21 seasons, with the largest coming during his first-ever meeting with Siena in 2003. Siena held a 49-40 rebounding advantage, with Sophomore Valencia Fontenelle-Posson's 17 points leading the way.
Siena held Marist to just 23 percent shooting from the field last Saturday, good for its lowest shooting percentage allowed by an opponent in a game since holding Morgan State to 22.5 percent from the floor back on Nov. 28, 2015.
The team also clinched its fourth series sweep against a league foe so far this season (Marist, Fairfield, Rider, Saint Peter's) matching the most since it had five during the 2002-03 season.
Siena has clinched its first winning record since the 2017-18 campaign and locked up a first-round bye in the 2023 MAAC Tournament for the second consecutive year by way of Thursday evening's results. The Saints can finish the season as high as second and as low as fifth in the MAAC. At 11-4 at home this season, the Saints have matched the most home victories in a single season since the 2002-03 campaign (12).
Siena currently leads the MAAC in scoring offense (68.9) and defensive rebounds per-game (26.9), while ranking second in total rebounding (41.0), steals per-game (10.0), and three-point percentage (31.6). Individually, sophomore Anajah Brown leads the league in rebounds per-game (8.0) and offensive rebounds per-game (3.6), and is second in total rebounding (199). Freshman Elisa Mevius is second in free throw percentage (83.1) and third in total steals (62). Brown's 38 blocks so far this season have her tied for the tenth-most in a single season in program history entering the final three contests of the regular season.
Siena and Quinnipiac will face off for the 21st time since 2013, with the Bobcats owning an 18-2 all-time advantage. The Bobcats took the first meeting of the season in Hamden behind a huge game from transfer Mary Baskerville off the bench. The graduate student went for 16 points and 20 rebounds in 26 minutes, allowing Quinnipiac to hold on following a late push from the Saints. QU shot nearly 47 percent from the field while holding a 45-27 rebound advantage, with freshman Teresa Seppala leading the way with 17 points for the Saints. Brown (13) and sophomore Emina Selimovic (10) also went for double figures.
The Bobcats have taken each of the last three matchups, with both of Siena's wins since QU joined the MAAC in 2013 coming down in Connecticut. The Saints will aim to defeat the Bobcats for the first time in ten tries at home, with the closest result in the Capital Region coming in the form of a pair of ten-point losses in 2014 & 2016.
Currently holding onto second place in the MAAC standings by half a game, Quinnipiac dropped a 63-58 decision to third place Niagara Thursday evening, snapping a ten-game win streak. The Bobcats' other conference losses this season have come at the hands of Iona twice and Niagara one other time. Quinnipiac will end the regular season back home against Fairfield next Saturday, with Thursday serving as the team's final bye. QU ranks fifth nationally in field goal percentage defense (34.2), while also leading the MAAC in blocks per-game (4.5), three-point percentage defense (28.6). Seniors Cur'Tiera Haywood and Mikala Morris lead the team in scoring (10.4), while Rose Caverly is the league leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84).
