LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Women's Basketball once again endured a scare from its closest geographical conference rival, but once again survived to walk away with its fourth regular season sweep over a MAAC opponent this season. The Saints (15-11, 12-6) used a solid second half to secure a 73-62 victory over Route 9 rival Marist (5-22, 3-14) Thursday evening at the UHY Center, improving to 3-0 all-time when competing on a Leap Day.
Beginning a stretch of two of its final three regular season contests at home, the Green and Gold came out strong in the first quarter, beginning the game on a 11-2 run and holding as large as a 14-point lead in the opening period by way of seven different scorers.
In the ultimate tale of two quarters, the home team followed up matching its most points in a quarter this season (25) with its lowest amount in a period this year, totaling just four points in the second quarter and enduring a stretch of 6:43 without scoring. The drought allowed the slumping Red Foxes to hold a 10-4 advantage in the period and bring the deficit to only six points at the half.
Entering the night with a ten-game losing streak, Marist began the second half with a 7-2 run to claim their first lead, 31-30, with 6:49 remaining in the third quarter. Siena fired back with a three-pointer from redshirt-freshman
Nikola Zdenkova, but the visitors would bring the lead to three just minutes later. Siena used three's from Zdenkova, sophomore
Teresa Seppala, and senior
Ahniysha Jackson, as well as a pair of free throws from Seppala and a layup from sophomore
Elisa Mevius in the last four-and-a-half minutes of the quarter to push the lead back out to six entering the final period of play.
Siena converted on four triples and added five free shots to cap things off and work back to a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, including three from beyond-the-arc from Jackson. The team recorded a season-best 12 three-pointers made, and went in double-digits for the second straight game to surpass the 70-point mark for the 13
th time this year.
Jackson recorded 19 points for the second straight game to lead the way, while Seppala turned in her second double-double of the year with 18 points and 11 boards, and Zdenkova hit five threes for a career-best 15 points. The team also saw two players record a double-double in the same game for the second time this season and the third time in the last two years.
After coming a pair of assists away from a triple-double on Saturday, Mevius came just one help away in her second-straight double-double with ten points, a career-high 13 rebounds, nine assists, and four steals. The Rendsburg, Germany native moved into 22
nd all-time in program history in career assists, and is now just four steals away from setting the MAAC single-season record at 114 on the year.
Marist's Zaria Shazer led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Morgan Lee added 12 and Jackie Piddock went for ten points.
Siena will conclude home play in the 2023-24 season with a chance to secure a season sweep over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, March 2 at 5 PM inside the UHY Center. Jackson will be honored as the team's lone senior on Senior Night, while the team will have a shot at locking up a top-3 seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship for the first time since 2018.
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