ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Siena Women's Basketball's Ahniysha Jackson was certainly "feeling" 22 on Thursday. The lone senior went for a game-high 22 points on her 22^nd birthday to lead the No. 3 seed Saints (18-11, 14-6) to a definitive 80-57 win over No. 6 Mount St. Mary's (14-17, 10-10) in the 2024 MAAC Quarterfinals inside Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Thursday evening.

The Watervliet, New York native and Albany High School graduate led a complete team effort to secure Siena's first trip to the MAAC Semifinals in consecutive years since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns. Sporting a season-high in points and tying a season-best and program MAAC Tournament record with 12 three-pointers made, the Green and Gold recorded its most points in a MAAC Tournament game since 2014 and posted the program's fourth-largest margin of victory in the MAAC Tournament in program history, including the largest since 2003.

After recording a regular season sweep over The Mount in the regular season and ending the year with a blowout 37-point victory at Rider last Thursday, Siena began the game on a 7-2 run before back-to-back buckets from Mount's Isabella Hunt brought them within a point. Jackson began her birthday party thereafter with three straight three-pointers in just under two minutes to begin what turned into a clinic from beyond the arc. The Saints ended the opening period on a 6-0 run thanks to consecutive buckets from sophomore Teresa Seppala, and held The Mount to only ten first quarter points.

From there, the Saints began to run away with things with an 18-point halftime lead thanks to eight first-half triples and three players in double-figures led by Seppala with 13 points. Fresh off the program's first-ever triple double, sophomore Elisa Mevius provided ten first half points, four assists, and four steals to provide glue to a team which held The Mount to 27.6 percent from the field, 0-10 from three, and forced 12 turnovers in the first half.

Freshman Ciany Conyers scored the first four points of the second half for the Saints, but Mount St. Mary's used its All-Conference pair to slow down the Saints' lead with a mini 6-2 run, while Third Team All-Conference selection Jo Raflo hit a three and free throws started to pile up to cut the Siena lead to 13 with 1:31 remaining in the third.

A three-pointer from Jackson with 28 seconds in the third coupled with a triple from Conyers to open the quarter allowed the Saints to whether final push from the Mountaineers, with Second Team All-MAAC honoree Jessica Tomasetti nailing down a pair of three's mid-way through the fourth. The Damage was past done, however, with freshman Alden Yergey climbing into double-figures and Jackson using a Mevius steal to finish off a fast-break to the bucket to complete a special 22-point performance with 1:11 remaining.

Siena shot 47 percent from the field while holding its opponent to just 32.2 percent, including a blistering 16.7 percent in the second quarter. The Saints collected 24 points off 22 Mount turnovers while adding 34 points in the paint and finishing with four of six total scorers in double-figures. Jackson's five threes tied a program MAAC Tournament single-game record, while Seppala's 18 points included setting the program single-game MAAC Tournament record for highest field-goal percentage at 6-7 from the floor. Yergey added 12 bench points off the strength of a pair of threes for her third straight game in double-figures.

Mevius went for her fourth double-double in the last five games with 12 points, ten assists, eight rebounds, and a career-best eight steals to record the first single-game performance of at least ten points, ten assists, and five steals in a MAAC Tournament game in the last 25 years. The Rendsburg, Germany native went for double-digit helps for the second straight game and third time this season to move into seventh in program single-season history with 150 this season and into a tie for 17^th in program history with 281 on her young career.

Siena will next battle No. 2 Niagara in the 2024 MAAC Semifinals for a chance at its first MAAC Championship Game appearance since 2003. The Saints edged out a 66-64 home win over the Purple Eagles on Jan. 11, while dropping an 84-70 decision at Niagara on Feb. 15 in two regular season meetings.