LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Women's Basketball celebrated Senior Night as it should be celebrated on Saturday evening: winning one for their senior. The Saints (16-11, 13-6) completed their fifth regular season sweep over a conference opponent this season by outlasting Mount St. Mary's (12-16, 9-10), 65-56, at the UHY Center to cap home play at 9-4 on the year.

The team's third straight win officially locked them into the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAAC Women's Basketball Championships in Atlantic City, New Jersey, marking their first top-3 regular season finish since 2018. Siena had already clinched the program's first consecutive winning records in 20 years – since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 campaigns.

Siena began the game on a 12-3 run with the first four points showing signs of a highlight reel performance from sophomore Teresa Seppala, while lone senior Ahniysha Jackson nailed an early three after being honored in a special pregame ceremony.

Mount St. Mary's fired back with an 8-0 run to come within a point, but Seppala had five more points in her to get into double-digit scoring in the first quarter alone. Jackson hit another three in the opening period, but The Mount's Jo Raflo completed a three-point play at the free throw line to give the visitors a 21-20 advantage after one period.

While Mount St. Mary's got steady contributions from leading scorers Jessica Tomasetti and Raflo, Siena freshman Alden Yergey provided support off the bench with five points in 18 seconds early in the quarter. The Saints had held an early nine-point lead in the first quarter and worked it back to seven in the second, but Mount ended the quarter on an 11-2 run to hold a 33-31 halftime lead.

Siena kicked off the second half on a 7-2 run with two straight buckets from sophomore Elisa Mevius and another three from Jackson but the Mountaineers kept pace and got a pair of bench threes to fuel a 12-3 run. Yergey got into the perimeter for a jumper with under a minute left to again put Siena within a point at the end of the quarter.

Mount netted the first two buckets of the fourth quarter to pull out to a game-high five points lead, but Yergey fired back with a pair of her own to ignite a 6-0 lead. Tomasetti knocked down a three to give the lead back to The Mount, but again Yergey countered to knot the game at 55 entering the final media timeout. The defining moment came when Yergey received a fastbreak pass and drilled a three to give the Saints a 56-56 lead with 1:45 left and start a string of nine straight points from the Saints to end the game.

Seppala registered her second straight double-double with a monster offering of 23 points and 16 rebounds for the most boards by a Siena player in two years, while Yergey went for a career-high 14 points, Jackson added 13 points, and Mevius finished with 11. Siena won despite being outshot from the field, and improved to 2-9 this season when trailing at the half.

Tomasetti led Mount St. Mary's with 18 points, while Raflo added 16.

With its fate already decided entering the postseason, Siena will look to conclude the 2023-24 regular season on a high note when it travels to Rider in search of a regular season sweep on Thursday, March 7 at 5 PM in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.