LOUDONVILLE, NY – After battling on the road for its only contest away from home during a three-week span, Siena Women's Basketball is set to return home for a pair of weekend MAAC battles. The Saints (6-8, 3-3) will look to continue recent home success when they welcome Rider (5-9, 2-3) into the UHY Center on Thursday, January 18, with tip-off set for 7 PM.   

Tickets to Thursday's game can be purchased by clicking the corresponding link or in-person at the UHY Center. The Siena Fan Relations Management Center is on-hand to handle all ticket-related inquiries, and can be reached by phone at (518) 487-2202 or by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu. For all Siena Basketball ticket-related information, log onto sienasaints.com/tickets.

Thursday's contest will serve as Siena's annual Gold Rush game, and is presented by Matthews Auto Group. Fans are encouraged to weargold to cheer on the Saints, with the first 500 fans through the door receiving a Siena Gold Rush rally towel presented by Dollar General.

Thursday's contest can be viewed on ESPN+, with the "Voice of the Saints" Emmauel Berbari 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 PM, 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.

Following two straight home wins, the Green and Gold got back on the road last Saturday to visit MAAC frontrunner Fairfield, ultimately dropping a 78-73 decision. Facing its largest halftime deficit of the season thus far, Siena nearly erased an 18-point hole by trimming it down to two in the final minutes, but could not pull off the upset. Junior Anajah Brown posted her second double-double of the year with a season-best 18 points and 14 rebounds, while sophomore Teresa Seppala went for a season-best 22 points and classmate Elisa Mevius added six points, ten boards, and eight assists. Siena out-rebounded and out-shot Fairfield from the field, while holding advantages in points in the paint and bench points as well.

Siena will look to get to at least 4-3 to start MAAC play for the third time in as many seasons in the current stint of head coach Jim Jabir. The Green and Gold have enjoyed at least five wins in each of the past two January slates under Coach Jabir.

Continuing the program's 50^th varsity season, Mevius and Brown continue to rank at or near the top of the MAAC and among the national leaders in multiple statistical categories. Mevius leads the league and is second nationally in steals per-game (4.14), fourth nationally in total steals (58), and 45th nationally in minutes per-game (35.2). The Rendsburg, Germany native is also third in the league in assists (4.2). Brown leads the league in blocks per-game (1.5) and is second in total blocks (21). Mevius' steals mark represents the most swipes by a Siena player since 2000 through 14 games, while her 59 assists are tied for the third-most. Brown's swipes are tied for the third-most by a Siena player during that time.

Siena and Rider are set to face off for the 56 meeting, with the Saints owning a 38-17 all-time advantage since 1998. Siena has taken each of the last three and five of the last six meetings in the series, including a monster 94-63 decision on Gold Rush last year which featured current sophomore London Gamble posting the program's first double-double with points and assists (13 points, 11 assists) since 2004. Seppala led five Saints in double-figures with 22 points. Having scored over 80 points in two of the last three meetings with the Broncs, Coach Jabir is 3-1 all-time against Rider, with all four previous meetings coming during his current stint at Siena.

Led by longtime head coach Lynn Milligan, Rider began the season 2-8, but has won three of its last four contests, including an upset 76-63 decision at Canisius last Saturday. Picked to finish tenth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Broncs are led in scoring by graduate transfer Taylor Langan, who averages 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per-game, and was named the MAAC Player of the Week back on January 2. Rider also brings back the 2020-21 MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year in Makayla Firebaugh, who averages 11.1 points per-contest.