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.
NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College Women's basketball team dropped their fifth straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Sunday evening with a 68-55 decision against Niagara at the Hynes Center.
Both teams played evenly to start the game, as a jumper by Shy Britton gave the Purple Eagles an early 10-8 lead with 14:37 remaining in the half.
A three-pointer by senior
Kristina Ford gave the Gaels a 20-19 lead at the 7:36 mark, which ultimately was Iona's last lead of the game.
Three point shooting by Meghan McGuinness led the Niagara at the end of the half, as they outscored the Gaels 15-9 in the last 7:20 to give them a 34-29 halftime lead.
Niagara shot an impressive 63% from the field in the first half, including three three-pointers. Niagara started the second half on an 11-0 run to dig Iona's hole a little deeper, as they trailed 45-29 with 16:22 remaining in the game.
The Gaels picked up their defensive intensity and it translated into points as Iona went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 11, 56-45, but it was the closest the team came as they dropped to 6-7 in MAAC play.
Freshman
Damika Martinez and Ford led the team with 13 points each and four rebounds.
Ali Morris led the five Niagara scorers in double figures with 15 points and added four rebounds.
Niagara shot 58% from the field for the game, as the Gaels shot 35%, including 28% in the second half. Iona looks to end their losing skid as they travel to Manhattan to take on the Jaspers at 7pm.
