POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – If winning were easy, everyone would do it. To win on the road against an in-conference rival hungry for a win is even tougher, especially with the target of high expectations on your back.

Siena Women's Basketball has continued to live up to preseason expectations as of late, this time overcoming a road upset bid to corral their season-best fifth straight win. The Saints (11-8, 8-3) stood the test of time in a 71-67 victory over MAAC rival Marist (5-15, 3-7) at McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie, New York Saturday evening, also marking their fifth straight win over the Red Foxes.

Having won its last four games in dominant fashion, the Saints began a stretch of four of five games on the road over the next two weeks by doubling up the slumping home team with a 16-8 advantage in the first quarter, large in-part to six first period points from senior Ahynisha Jackson and junior Anajah Brown. While both teams displayed poor shooting in the first half, five straight points early in the second quarter from freshman Ciany Conyers gave the visitors their largest lead of the game with a ten-point advantage.

Down but not out, Marist rattled off a 15-6 run to close the first half thanks to 11 second quarter points from Zaria Shazer, and trailed by just one point at the half. In front of an impressive home crowd of 1,427, the Red Foxes used the opening bucket of the second half to take their first lead of the game.

After both teams shot 33.3 percent from the floor in the first half, the I-87 rivals embarked on nine lead changes in the first five minutes of the third quarter. Marist then embarked on a 13-4 run over three minutes to hold a seven-point lead at 49-42 with 2:34 remaining in the period. A pair of threes from Jackson and sophomore Teresa Seppala allowed the Saints to take a stalemate at 50 into the final quarter of the game.

En-route to matching her career scoring high, Seppala took control of the fourth quarter with the first four points and Siena's six, as the teams volleyed for momentum. Brown tied the game at 58 with a second chance layup with four-and-a-half minutes remaining, but Shazer tacked on three more points to keep the Red Foxes at bay. Following a Marist free throw which put them up two with two minutes to play, Seppala muscled her way into the paint for the game-tying layup, and then quickly pulled up for a go-ahead three with 1:04 left. The final minute of the game featured an 11-2 run which wrapped things up to keep Siena in the win column and put it at an even 5-5 on the road this season.

Despite its streak of four straight wins by 18 points or more for the first time in 31 years coming to an end, the Green and Gold still went over 70 points for the sixth straight game (longest such streak since the 2001-02 season), shot over 40 percent from the field for the eighth straight contest, and record 40 or more points in the second half for the sixth consecutive outing. The team's 8-3 conference record matches its best 11-game MAAC start since the 2001-02 season, while five straight wins matches the longest overall win streak since the 2016-17 campaign.

Led by 24 from Seppala, the Saints also got 14 from Jackson despite having to play without their lone senior due to foul trouble for the final four minutes of the game. Conyers went 5-7 from the field to match a career-high with 13 points, while Brown turned in 11 rebounds to go with eight points and sophomore Elisa Mevius matched her career high of seven steals to move onto the single-season all-time top-ten list in the statistic. Siena won its first game this season despite being out-shot from the field, and was also out-rebounded, 41-34. Nevertheless, the Saints netted 23 points off 22 Marist turnovers and went for 34 points in the paint, while adding 15 bench points.

A Second Team All-MAAC selection last season, Shazer finished with 23 points and ten rebounds, while Catie Cunningham joined her in double-double territory with 12 points and 14 boards.

Siena's next road test will come in the form of defending MAAC champion Iona, whom the Saints took a definitive 77-56 win over at home back on January 20. Tip off from New Rochelle, New York on Thursday, February 8 is set for 7 PM.