LOUDONVILLE, NY - For the second time in three days, Siena Women's Basketball (7-8, 4-2 MAAC) will square off against a new member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), this time hosting the Merrimack Warriors (7-8, 3-3 MAAC) at 2 p.m. Saturday from the UHY Center.
Kelly O'Donnell and Brian Rubino will have the call on ESPN+, while Joe Puccio and Steve Amedio will be courtside for the local broadcast on WVCR 88.3 FM. Tickets, international stream, live stats, and courtside X updates can be found by clicking on the corresponding links.
Fans are encouraged to donate five canned goods to the Regional Food Bank during Saturday's game. In return for their donation, fans will receive a voucher for five dollars off a ticket to a future Siena men's or women's regular season 2024-25 home game (based on availability, while supplies last). The Regional Food Bank will collect canned goods and personal hygiene products through the start of the second half of each game. Representatives will be located in the lobby of UHY Center. Fans can also show their support by
making a monetary contribution by way of cash or Venmo. For every $1 dollar raised, four meals are provided to individuals in need throughout 23 counties in northeastern New York.
Following Thursday's win at Sacred Heart, halftime leads proved to continue to be beneficial towards the Saints as the team improved to 5-0 on the season when holding an edge at the break. The team also improved to 4-0 this year when keeping opponents between 50-59 points. In the win, Siena had its best single-game shooting performance to date, going over 50 percent from the field (29-52) for the first time this season.
Coming off her sixth 20-point game of the season,
Teresa Seppala continues to score at a career rate. At 220 points this season (18.3 PPG), the junior is well on her way to surpass both her previous career-high for total points (394) and points per game (14.1) set last season. A top-50 scorer nationally, Seppala's surge has brought her within 58 points of 1,000 for her career in just 71 games played.
While Seppala inches closer to 1,000 career points,
Ahniysha Jackson is knocking on the door of the milestone. The graduate student is 14 points away from becoming the 30th member of the exclusive milestone mark, and has hit 14 points in seven of 14 outings this season. After a quiet two-game stretch to open the calendar year, Baby is back in form - going for 22 and 19 over her last two games, respectively.
The Warriors are 7-8 overall and 3-3 through the program's first six MAAC games under head coach Kelly Morrone, who is in her fifth season with the team. Coming off a five-point home loss to unbeaten Quinnipiac Thursday, Merrimack ranks seventh in the league in both scoring offense (58.9 PPG), and scoring defense (62.5 Opp. PPG), while leading the MAAC shooting .774 percent from the free throw line. Thalia Shepard (11.3 PPG) and Paloma Garcia (10.3 PPG) lead the team in scoring, while Madison Roman is nearly averaging a double-double per outing with 9.5 points and 8.9 rebounds.
Saturday's second all-time meeting between Siena and Merrimack will be the first as MAAC opponents. Last season's game was Siena's lone overtime contest of the season, and also served as the program's third in the 2023 calendar year. In the game, Siena went to the free throw line a season-high 30 times, and made a season-best 21.
Anajah Brown also tied a career-high with four blocked shots.
Following Saturday, Siena will travel to Emmitsburg. MD to take on Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m. on Thur., Jan. 23.
