NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College women's basketball team fell to the Siena Saints on Kids Day Tuesday morning. The Gaels shot just 35% from the floor and 21% from beyond the arc while committing 23 turnovers. With the loss, the Maroon & Gold are 8-7 overall, and 3-3 in MAAC Play.
Senior Karynda DuPree had a team-high 12 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes. Sophomore Alexis Lewis struggled from the floor, shooting 4-for-12, but finished with 11 points. Sophomore Treyanna Clay dished out a career-high five assists.
Iona started the game with its third different starting lineup of the season with freshman Ashley Martin starting at the point guard spot in just her second collegiate game. Senior Marina Lizarazu, after missing Iona's last game at Saint Peters, came off the bench two minutes into the contest.
The turnover problem reared its head as a problem for the Maroon & Gold in the first half. Over the opening 12 minutes of the game, Iona was averaging nearly a turnover per minutes and the Saints ended the first 20 minutes scoring 16 points off 13 Gael miscues.
Lewis and DuPree each had a team-high six points in the first half, combining to shoot 6-for-11. Siena sophomore Jackie Benitez entered the break with then-game high nine points. The Saints shot 48.0% in the first half, connecting on a pair of threes and outscoring Iona in the paint, 20 to 4.
A fast-paced start to the third saw Iona take a 33-32 lead. Siena bounced back and commenced on a 6-0 run over a 4:40 stretch. Siena saw its leads rise to nine before Lizarazu broke the Gaels scoring drought with a free throw. Iona missed its final nine field goals in the third, shooting only 4-for-14 in the frame.
The Saints entered the fourth with a 42-34 lead and extended further when freshman Sabrina Piper hit a three-pointer to give her team a then game-high 14 point edge with 7:01 to go.
Freshman Tori Lesko broke the Iona field goal drought with an and-one conversion at 6:47. It was the Gaels first made bucket from the floor in over 10 minutes. The old-fashioned three-point play, and adjacent sub-in of DuPree, the Maroon & Gold went on a short 6-0 spurt to get within eight. It'd be the closest Iona would get as the Saints quelled the surge by converting on Iona's 21st and 22nd turnovers of the game and increasing the margin back to 12.
Benitez finished with a game-high 15 points and eight steals in 36 minutes. She shot 5-for-10 from the floor, and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The Saints shot 42% from the floor, and ended with 29 points scored off Gael turnovers.
Iona converted on just 9-of-18 from the free throw line and its 46 points scored is the lowest total this season. It is also the second straight game that the Gaels failed to record a block.
Prior to the game, Head Coach Billi Godsey and Athletics Director Rick Cole Jr. honored Lizarazu for surpassing the 1,000 point plateau last Monday, Jan. 2 at Rider.
The Gaels host Niagara this Friday at the Hynes Center. Tip-off set for 7 PM.
