LOUDONVILLE, NY – Playing in its second Kids Day matchup in a week, Siena women's Basketball faced a tough home test with the MAAC preseason favorite visiting the UHY Center. The Saints (6-7, 3-2) held strong to win a back-and-forth home affair over Niagara (6-9, 3-2), 66-64 Thursday morning.

Welcoming a raucous crowd of 1,058 for Kids Day presented by Transfinder, the Green and Gold made it wins in five of the last six home matchups against the Purple Eagles and four victories in the last Kids Day matchups. Siena has now started at least 3-2 in MAAC play in all three seasons in the current stint of head coach Jim Jabir.

Coming off a career-high 31 points in the team's home win over Saint Peter's on Saturday, senior Ahniysha Jackson once again steadied the team as its lone senior, dropping 17 points for her third straight game in double figures to begin the new calendar year.

Following an early 5-2 Niagara run in the game's opening minutes, the Saints rattled off five straight points and held a slight three-point lead after the first ten minutes of play. A 6-0 run carried the Green and Gold into the second quarter to lead to the largest lead of the day by either team – an 11-point Siena advantage with 6:03 remaining in the half. A 14-6 Niagara run during the final six minutes of the half led to a three-point Siena lead at the intermission.

The Purple Eagles – looking for vengeance after falling via the "Mevius Miracle" in an 83-81 decision last season at Siena – used four straight points from MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Aaliyah Parker to kick off the second half and force an early Siena timeout. A 7-0 Saints run midway through the quarter featured a jumper and a pair of free throws from freshman Ciany Conyers, on her way to a career-high ten points off the bench.
After leading by only one, Siena went up by six – 63-57 – thanks for a jumper from sophomore Elisa Mevius at the 3:28 mark, but gave up seven straight points to trail by a point with 22 seconds remaining. Off a timeout with a designed play, Siena used a fake from Mevius to bounce a back-door pass on the run to sophomore Teresa Seppala to take the lead for good.

Four Siena players finished in double-figure scoring for the Saints for the first time since December 7 against Fordham, with Mevius back in double-digit for the first time in five games with 15 points while adding seven rebounds and turning in seven steals for the second straight game. Seppala also added 11 points and eight rebounds, with Siena shooting for 41 percent from the field in the win and scoring 16 points off 22 Niagara turnovers, with 30 points in the paint.

Playing in just her sixth game of the season, graduate student and former Siena commit Angel Parker led the visitors with 15 points, while the younger Parker and sophomore Ary Hicks finished with ten points apiece.
Siena will next head out on the road for its only road contest over a three-week span between Jan. 6 – 20 to face currently MAAC frontrunner Fairfield on Saturday, January 13, with tip-off set for 2 PM from Leo D. Mahoney Arena.