ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – After ending the 2023-24 regular season as winners in its last four and 11 of its last 14 games, Siena Women's Basketball is set to begin its postseason journey on Thursday afternoon. The No. 3 seed Saints (17-11, 14-6) will kick off the 2024 MAAC Women's Basketball Championships by facing No. 6 Mount St. Mary's (14-16, 10-10) inside Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall on Thursday, March 14 at 1 PM in the Quarterfinal round.

Thursday's MAAC Quarterfinal contest can be viewed on ESPN+, with David Resnick, Dominique Patrick, and Griffin Della Penna on the call, and can be heard locally on 88.3 FM The Saints or anywhere on iHeartRadio. Pregame coverage tips off at 12:30 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.

Siena enters its 34th MAAC Tournament, with the program holding an all-time mark of 30-33, including 17-13 in the quarterfinal round, 2-2 as the No. 3 seed, and a perfect 2-0 vs. the No. 6 seed. The Saints meet Mount St. Mary's foe the first time ever in the postseason as its 11 different MAAC postseason foe, and will look to remain perfect vs. No. 6 seeds following wins in 2018 & 1997. The Green and Gold last made the MAAC Semifinals as the No. 3 seed in 2018, and will look to log trips to the Semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns.

Prior to enjoying a bye during the final day of the regular season, the Saints ended the year with a 77-40 blowout win at Rider on Thursday, March 7. The contest featured the team's largest win of the year, its first time holding an opponent to 40 points or less in over four years, and its sixth sweep of a MAAC opponent this season. Sophomore Elisa Mevius recorded the program's first-ever triple-double with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists, while senior Ahniysha Jackson led the way with 18 points, sophomore Teresa Seppala added 14 points, and freshman Alden Yergey added ten points off the bench.

Mevius' first triple-double both in program history and in the MAAC this season was also good for just the fifth one this season nationally to include at least 15 points and 15 rebounds. The Rendsburg, Germany native capped Siena's third straight week with the MAAC Player of the Week by earning her first honor of the season on March 7.

Seppala gave the program its first back-to-back MAAC Player of the Week honors since 2002 by taking home her second straight MAAC Player of the Week on March 4. She averaged a double-double of 20.5 points and 13.5 rebounds to help the Saints to home wins over Marist and Mount St. Mary's. The week included recording the most rebounds in a game by a Siena player (16) in two years against The Mount. After averaging 24 points over two games, Seppala took home her first collegiate MAAC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 26, 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 locked up a first-round bye in the MAAC Championship for the third time in as many seasons under head coach Jim Jabir as the No. 3 seed for the first time since 2018. The program has compiled back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 campaigns, and completed its winningest MAAC campaign since 2002-03 with 14 wins.

Mevius locked up Siena's sixth MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honor and first since 2016-17, while the team featured Mevius and Seppala as First Team All-MAAC selections to mark just the second time in program history with multiple First Team selections. The other time also marked players recruited by Coach Jabir: Siena Athletics Hall of Fame members Liz Lops and Kim Colunio in 1993-94. Junior Anajah Brown and Jackson took home Third Team All-MAAC honors, with Brown doing so for the second straight year and Jackson securing her first collegiate postseason honor.

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 set the MAAC single-season record for swipes with her 119th of the year at Rider on March 7, and continues to rank second nationally in both total steals and steals per-game.

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 11 times this season. Siena has had at least one player finish in double-figure scoring in 136 straight contests dating back to a 52-48 loss at Manhattan on 2/3/19.

Continuing the program's 50^th varsity season, Mevius, Brown, and Jackson rounded out the regular season ranking 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 (4.32), and in total steals (121), and 34th nationally in minutes per-game (35.8). The Rendsburg, Germany native also now leads the league in both assists per-game (4.5) and total assists (140). Brown leads the league in both blocks per-game (1.67), while Jackson is second in total three-pointers (60) and three-pointers per-game (2.22).

Siena and Mount St. Mary's meet for only the sixth time since 1995, with The Mount owning a slight 3-2 all-time advantage. The Saints capped a regular season sweep over the Mount this year, but not without a pair of close games. Siena closed out a one-point game with under two minutes remaining in a 61--55 victory on Dec. 19, 2023 in Maryland, and overcame a five-point fourth quarter deficit in the most recent meeting to take a 65-56 win on March 2. Jackson went for double-figures in both games with 16 and 13, respectively, while sophomore Teresa Seppala produced a monster double-double of 23 points and 16 boards in the most recent matchup. The Mount took the first three all-time meetings in the series, including a non-conference tournament victory in 1995 and a regular season sweep last year. Head Coach Jim Jabir is 2-2 all-time against the Mountaineers, with all four meetings coming as head coach of the Saints.

Under the direction of third-year head coach Antoine White, The Mount picked up a win in its Opening Round game in the form of a 60-47 decision over #11 Marist on Tuesday. Mount outscored the Red Foxes, 24-8, in the second quarter, with Third Team All-MAAC selection Jo Raflo leading the way with 17 points in the game. Second Team All-MAAC honoree Jessica Tomasetti added 11 points, while Jada Lee went for ten points. Mount ended the regular season with wins in two of its final three games, but dropped the final regular season meeting with Siena despite holding a halftime lead. Raflo is second in the league in three-point percentage (33.7) and first in three's made (65) despite The Mount ranking dead last in three-point percentage at 26.8 percent.