LOUDONVILLE, NY – Fresh off a road win to snap a three-game losing skid, Siena Women's Basketball is set to return to the UHY Center for its final two home games of the 2023-24 season. The Saints (14-11, 11-6) will look to begin the weekend on a high note in search of a regular season sweep of Route 9 rival Marist (5-23, 3-13) on Thursday, February 29, with tip-off set for 7 PM at the UHY Center.    

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 game will serve as Siena's "Irish Night", with the team holding a fundraiser to help support their recently announced upcoming foreign tour of Ireland scheduled for August 2024. There will be green t-shirts for sale and a 50/50 raffle to help offset the cost of the tip. More information about Siena Women's Basketball's Foreign Tour of Ireland can be found at SienaSaints.com/WBBIreland.

Thursday's contest can be viewed on ESPN+, with Emmanuel 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.

The Saints rebounded from a three-game losing skid to take a 75-57 road win at Saint Peter's last Saturday, collecting their third season sweep over a MAAC opponent this season. The Green and Gold recorded ten three-pointers in the contest, with sophomore Teresa Seppala and senior Ahniysha Jackson leading the way with 19 points apiece, while sophomore Elisa Mevius nearly poste a triple double with 15 points, ten rebounds, eight assists, and seven steals.

After averaging 24 points over two games last week, Seppala took home her first collegiate MAAC Player of the Week honors this season, marking the program's first campaign with multiple MAAC Player of the Week honorees since the 2016-17 season. The Tempere, Finland native went for a career-high 29 points on Feb. 22 against Fairfield, while adding 19 points at Saint Peter's two days later.

Siena has now locked up a first round bye in the MAAC Championship for the third time in as many seasons under head coach Jim Jabir, and can finish anywhere between the No. 2 and the No. 5 spot. The program aims for its first top-5 regular season finish since the 2017-18 campaign.

Mevius used only 23 games on the season to set the program single-season record for steals, surpassing Siena Athletics Hall of Fame member Tehresa Coles '14, HOF '23 on Feb. 17 at Canisius with her 99th steal of the year. She continues to rank second nationally in both total steals and steals per-game, and is now tied for fourth in MAAC history in single-season swipes.

The Green and Gold started 7-3 in the MAAC in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 campaigns, and started 10-3 in the league for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. The Saints won seven straight games from Jan 18 - Feb. 10 for the first time since winning ten-in-a-row during the 2002-03 season, which marks the program's most recent appearance in the MAAC Championship Game.

The team also recorded 70 points or more in nine straight games from Jan. 18 - Feb. 15, which tied for the program's second-longest streak and is the longest since a record ten straight games of doing so during the 1994-95 season.

After recording a career-high 33 points on February 8 at Iona, Brown took home her second MAAC Player of the Week award on February 12, becoming the first Siena player to win multiple MAAC Player of the Week awards since the 2016-17 season. No Siena player has won three MAAC Player of the Week awards in a single season since Siena Athletics Hall of Fame member Laura Menty '08, HOF '12 did so during the 2007-08 campaign. Brown's 33-point outburst against Iona on February 8 was good for only the 15th single-game performance of 33 points or more in program history, and just the fourth this millennium. It was the first single-game output of 33 points since 2017, and the second 30-point performance by a Saint this season.

Siena won four games by 18 points or more from January 18 - February 1, marking the first time the team has held that large of a victory margin in four straight games since the 1990-91 season, and only the fifth time in program history.  The Saints also won three straight home games by 20 or more points for the first time since the 2001-02 season from Jan. 18 - Feb. 1.

After averaging a double-double on the week, Brown earned both her first career MAAC weekly award and the team's first accolade of the season when she was named the MAAC Player of the Week on January 22. The Norristown, Pennsylvania product finished off a stretch of double-doubles in three straight games for the second time in her collegiate career, also doing so Dec. 5-19 of 2022.

The team featured nine in the scoring column in a home win over Quinnipiac on February 14, marking the second time this season nine players have scored in a game. The team has had eight or more players score in a game ten times this season. Siena has had at least one player finish in double-figure scoring in 133 straight contests dating back to a 52-48 loss at Manhattan on 2/3/19.

Continuing the program's 50^th varsity season, Mevius and junior Anajah 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 (4.44), and in total steals (111), and 37th nationally in minutes per-game (35.57). The Rendsburg, Germany native also now leads the league in both assists per-game (4.7) and total assists (117). Brown leads the league in both blocks per-game (1.68) and total blocks (37).

The two closest MAAC schools in proximity to each other, Siena and Marist meet for the 80^th time on Thursday, with the Red Foxes holding a 42-37 advantage in the all-time series since 1978. Siena enters Thursday's matchup riding a five-game win streak over its Route 9 rivals, including a 71-67 win in a thriller in Poughkeepsie earlier this season. Despite leading at the half, the Saints had to overcome a seven-point deficit late in the third quarter, with sophomore Seppala exploding for 15 fourth quarter points to lead the visitors to victory. Seppala tied a then-career high with 24 points, while Jackson added 14 points and Brown turned in 11 rebounds. Siena's current win streak in the series represents its largest since winning 17 straight meetings from 1996-2004. Head Coach Jim Jabir is 8-1 all-time against Marist, including 7-1 while coaching Siena.

Led by first year head coach Erin Doughty, Marist aims to snap a ten-game losing skid, which ties the program's longest-such streak since the 1991-92 season. Marist ranks as the top team in the league in rebounding (37.35) and second in blocks per-game (3.6). Zaria Shazer is third in the league in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (8.5), while Kiara Fisher averages 9.4 points per-contest.