Mike Ritz is currently a junior journalism major at Iona College. He is from Yorktown, New York and is a sports writer for the school newspaper, The Ionian. Mike has been the manager for the Iona women's basketball team since his freshman year. A lover of sports, he played four years of basketball in high school as well as four years of golf. Mike comes from an Iona family, both of his parents, Ron and Michelle, graduated from Iona as well as his sister, Jen, who played basketball for the Gaels for four years and graduated in 2008. Mike loves to be a part of the Iona family and aspires to be a successful sports writer when he graduates.
SMITHFIELD, RI - The Iona College women's basketball team got back in the win column Tuesday evening with a convincing 66-53 victory over Bryant, improving the squad's early season record to 2-1.
Senior guard
Suzi Fregosi led the Gaels with 16 points and seven assists. She tied a single game best with six field goals while also shooting a perfect four-for-four from the foul line.
Freshman
Damika Martinez, recently named MAAC Rookie of the Week, continued her strong start by pouring in 13 points and hauling down six rebounds. Senior
Kristina Ford, the MAAC Player of the Week, had 11 points for the Gaels while also picking up six rebounds.
The Gaels, outrebounded in each of the first two contests, showed much improvement on the glass by eclipsing the 40 rebound mark for the first time this season. Senior
Tomica Bacic had ten boards for the Maroon & Gold, one off a career high. Also present in the paint was sophomore
Sabrina Jeridore, who matched a career best with six points and five blocks.
Junior transfer
Jiya Dorcas-Eya made her Iona debut in the contest, sparking the bench with six points and three rebounds in ten minutes of play. "Jiya gave us so much energy tonight," said head coach
Anthony Bozzella. "I was very pleased with her quality minutes."
With the Gaels leading byt four at the break, Bryant was able to cut the lead to one early in the first before Iona went on a 14-2 run to take a double digit lead. Another Bryant run would cut the lead to six, but the Gaels were able to put the game out of reach when junior
Diana Hubbard knocked down her second third-pointer of the contest with just over seven minutes remaining.
"It was a big time shot," commented Bozzella. "Diana really showed a lot of maturity by stepping up and knocking down that basket when we really needed it."
The Gaels are back in action this Friday, when they host Stony Brook at 7:00 pm at the Hynes Center.
