LOUDONVILLE, NY –- After beginning the month of February with a road victory, Siena Women's Basketball returns to the Capital Region to defend its home gym in search of a season split with new league foe Mount St. Mary's. The Saints (14-8, 8-4) will play host to the Mountaineers (8-13, 4-8) on Saturday, February 4, with tip-off set for 2 PM at 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 1:30 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 celebration of National Girls and Women in Sport Day, which took place on Wednesday, February 1. Siena's female athletic programs will be recognized at halftime, while the Siena College Office of Alumni Relations will feature a sign making station and free cookies. Additionally, the Saints are sponsoring a food drive to benefit the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, with attendees encouraged to bring healthy, non-perishable food items or monetary donations.
Siena returns to the UHY Center after having started the year 9-3 in home contests for the first time since 2005-06, having matched the program's best home start through 12 home games since the 2001-02 season (10-2).
After capping the month of January with a stellar 6-3 record, the Green and Gold began February by completing a season sweep of Saint Peter's with a 72-48 victory in Jersey City Thursday evening. Freshman Hannah Finnerty exhibited a breakout performance with 13 first-half points en-route to a collegiate-best 18 points, four rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Four-time defending MAAC Rookie of the Week Teresa Seppala also went for 18 points, while sophomore Anajah Brown and freshman London Gamble got in double figures with ten points apiece.
Freshman Elisa Mevius stole a career-high seven balls in the win over the Peacocks, marking the most steals by a Saint in a single game since March 3, 2018. Thursday's win marked the fifth time this season that the Saints grabbed a win by 20 points or more, marking the most 20-point victories in a single campaign since the 2002-23 squad tallied six.
The team also clinched its third series sweep against a league foe so far this season (Fairfield, Rider, Saint Peter's) marking the most since it had four during the 2016-17 season.
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. 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 (67.5), defensive rebounds per-game (27.8), three-point percentage defense (27.9), and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.81), while ranking second in assists per-game (14.5), field goal percentage (41.2), rebound margin (4.7), rebounding (41.4), scoring margin (+6.3), and steals per-game (9.5).
Individually, Brown leads the league in total rebounds (158), while ranking third in rebounds per-game (7.6). Mevius is third in both total assists (98) and assists per-game (4.5), while junior Ahniysha Jackson is third in three-point percentage (31.8).
All eight members of the Green and Gold got on the scoresheet in their win over Saint Peter's on Feb. 2, marking the 11th such occurrence for the Saints thus far this season. Eight times all eight players in a game have scored, while once all six have done so, once all nine have done so and once all ten have done so.
The Saints and the Mountaineers meet for the second time this season and the third time overall, with Mount St. Mary's taking each of the first two meetings. The Saints and the Mountaineers will meet in Loudonville for the first time ever, with new league opponent The Mount taking a 65-59 victory over Siena in Maryland on Dec. 19, in what was both teams' MAAC opener. The shorthanded Saints were down two starters on the road, and overcame a double-digit deficit to tie the game at 58 with 3:13 remaining. The Mount prevailed on the strength of 19 points from Michaela Harrison and a double-double from Jessica Tomasetti, while Siena boasted three players in double-figures led by 14 points from Mevis. Additionally, sophomore Brown turned in a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards. December's matchup marked the first meeting between the new league foes since Dec. 3, 1995, when The Mount took a 76-69 victory over the Saints at the Brown Classic in Providence, Rhode Island.
The defending NEC Champions before transitioning to the MAAC, Mount St. Mary's will look to end a three-game losing skid, and will wrap a stretch of four of five games on the road. After dropping a narrow 54-53 decision at Fairfield last Thursday, The Mount took a 73-54 home loss to Niagara last Saturday, and fell in a 65-54 result at Marist on February 2. The team leads the league and ranks 18th nationally in three-point attempts per-game with 26, while also leading in three's made per-game at 7.6. Leading scorer Michaela Harrison has attempted the ninth-most three's nationally (174), and is second in the MAAC in three-pointers made (48) and per-game (2.29).
