SPRINGFIELD, MA - The Iona College women's basketball team dropped a tough 72-48 decision to Marist College in the MAAC Championship game, held Monday morning at the MassMutual Center.
Freshman forward
Joy Adams added to her tally of the most double doubles in the nation by a rookie this season, leading the Gaels with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Redshirt junior
Haley D'Angelo scored 12 points and dished out two assists while sophomore guard
Aleesha Powell had 10 points.
Early in the first half, the teams traded buckets, with a layup by D'Angelo with 15:39 remaining tying the game at six. The Red Foxes would score the next five points, before the Gaels answered with a 9-2 run, taking a 15-13 lead on a pair of D'Angelo free throws with 9:47 left in the period.
Marist would respond with a 19-7 run over the next six-plus minutes, taking a 32-22 lead on a jumper by Emma O'Connor with 3:30 remaining in the half. Iona was held to just seven points over the final 5:42 of the first half, but used a late rally on five points by freshman guard
Aaliyah Robinson in the final 95 seconds to cut the Marist lead to seven, 34-27, at intermission.
The Gaels opened the second half with a layup by Powell to cut the lead to five, before Marist quickly answered on a layup by O'Connor that started a 15-4 run for the Red Foxes, as a three-pointer by Sydney Coffey with 12:00 minutes remaining gave Marist a 48-33 lead.
A layup by Adams halted the run, but Marist continued to outscore the Gaels, taking a game high 27 point lead on another three pointer with 8:04 remaining as Marist secured its eighth consecutive MAAC Championship. In the second half, Iona was held to just 28.0% shooting from the field, while Marist connected on 45.5% of its shots. Senior Elizabeth Beynnon led Marist with 15 points, and was one of four players in double figures.
With their second place regular season finish, the Gaels have earned an automatic berth in the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The bracket will be released the evening of Monday, March 18.
