POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Iona College women's basketball program fell to Marist on Thursday evening, 75-55. Rookie Jayden Eggleston collected her first career double-double and freshman Toyosi Abiola netted her fourth 20-point scoring outing of the season in the loss.
Eggleston led all players with 12 rebounds while also scoring 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting. She chipped in a team-high two assists and two steals. Abiola scored a game-high 20 points in 39 minutes. The seven-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week last scored 20 in Iona's first home conference game against Canisius on Jan. 2.
The Gaels started off hot by hitting their first four shots from the floor. Marist rebounded from Iona's start with a quick 6-0 spurt that forced Head Coach Billi Chambers to call a timeout. Clay netted her third field goal of the quarter coming out of the huddle and the Maroon & Gold would carry a 17-14 lead at the end of the first frame.
Marist began the second quarter with a pair of back-to-back threes on way to quickly taking the lead, 22-17. The trifectas were a precursor to a 14-0 run by the Red Foxes that saw the Gaels go scoreless for the first five minutes of the frame. Eggleston ended the dry spell with a jumper from the right wing.
Much like how the game started, Iona's offense made their final four shots of the first half to climb back into it after trailing by as many as 13. Marist did not score over the final 3:21 of the second quarter but still led at intermission, 32-27.
Clay secured her third straight double-digit scoring game with 11 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting. Eggleston pulled down five rebounds in the first half while contributing six points to mirror Abiola.
Both Marist and Iona combined to assist on just seven of their 25 made field goals in the first two quarters.
The Red Foxes hit each of their first three attempts from the arc in the third quarter to canonize a 13-2 stretch. The Gaels had to deal with foul trouble in the opening portion of the second half with sophomore Amelia Motz and freshman Rebekah Justice each gathering their third in the early going.
The flow continued to swing Marist's way as it shot 54.2% in the second half. Iona mustered shooting 30.0% over the third and fourth. It shot 37.9% from the floor in the game, and 21.1% from beyond the arc.
Marist forced 11 turnovers in the second half and 18 overall. Clay and Abiola combined for 12 of the handovers. The Red Foxes assisted on nine of their 13 made field goals after just four of its first 12.
Junior Alexis Lewis played a season-low 14 minutes and finished with no points for the first time since Feb. 26, 2017 against Siena. She has only been held scoreless four times in her career, two of which have come against Marist.
Iona's next game is in Hamden, CT on Sunday, Feb. 4 against Quinnipiac. Tip-off between the Gaels and Bobcats set for noon. The game is being broadcasted on ESPN3 and WATCHESPN.
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