NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College women's basketball team won its third straight game on Tuesday afternoon, coming back in the second half to defeat Sacred Heart 72-64. Senior Olivia Vezaldenos shined again offensively for the Gaels, scoring a season-best 20 points to lead the Maroon & Gold over the Pioneers.

GAME SUMMARY

Both teams began the afternoon with baskets in the opening minute of play, but the two sides went ice cold after that. The next bucket of the game came from freshman Sydney Avoletta at the 5:25 mark, giving the Gaels a 4-2 lead. Sacred Heart snapped a scoreless streak that spanned nearly five minutes with back-to-back field goals in a 50-second span.
 
Kelsey Wood scored inside to give the Pioneers an 8-6 advantage, but Iona would end the quarter with a 10-8 lead. The Gaels held the visitors without a point over the final 3:10 of action in the opening quarter.
 
The second quarter was very slow paced. The two sides combined to shoot 18 free throws, with the Pioneers taking the bulk of the tries from the charity stripe. Sacred Heart would take a 27-21 lead into the half, putting some of the Gaels' starters into foul trouble as the second half loomed.
 
12 of Sacred Heart's 19 second-quarter points came from the free throw line. The Gaels were whistled for 12 fouls in the second period alone. By the time the contest reached halftime, 10 of the 11 Gaels that touched the floor had registered at least one foul. Paulla Weekes had three, Jenae Dublin, Shyan Mwai and Vezaldenos all had two each. 
 
The third quarter began with the Maroon & Gold falling behind by nine points after the Pioneers recorded two of the first three baskets. Head coach Billi Chambers used her first timeout, gathering her team to talk things over. Out of the timeout, the Gaels scored seven straight points to pull within one possession of the lead and force Sacred Heart to burn a timeout.
 
Following the Pioneers' called timeout, the Gaels forced a turnover and Vezaldenos cashed in a three-pointer to give Iona a 33-32 lead. The full-court pressure from the Maroon & Gold continued to cause issues for the visitors, and Iona continued to pile on the points. The Gael lead grew to six points before Sacred Heart trimmed it to 38-34 with its first basket in over four minutes. Both sides traded baskets back-and-forth over the final two minutes of the quarter, allowing Iona to take a 43-38 lead into the final frame.
 
Sacred Heart scored seven points in under a minute to erase its deficit and knot things up at 45 all early in the fourth. Iona never surrendered the lead however; baskets from Camilion and Anouschka Meijer, plus a free throw from Dublin gave the Gaels a five-point lead with seven minutes to play. Meijer would record six consecutive points for the Maroon & Gold, holding off the Pioneers push mid-way through the fourth quarter.
 
Jayla Davis connected on a big three-pointer for Sacred Heart, pulling her team within one-point, 54-53, with four minutes remaining in regulation. The Maroon & Gold would not allow another point over the next three-plus minutes, scoring six points of their own to build up a 60-53 lead. Fantastic free throw shooting from the Gaels down the stretch propelled them to a third straight win, 72-64 over Sacred Heart.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Vezaldenos poured in a game-high 20 points, converting on 12 of her 13 tries from the free throw line. Sacred Heart's Jayla Davis matched Vezaldenos' offensive output, scoring 20 points (9-11 FTs).
• Kelsey Wood gathered a game-best 10 rebounds. Camilion corralled a team-high seven boards.
• Nikki Johnson dished out a game-high four assists. Becerra Perez had a team-best three helpers for the Maroon & Gold.
• Weekes and Camilion had three steals apiece, representing more than half of Iona's 11 total steals in the game.
• Camilion had quite the day defensively, blocking a new career-high three shots in the win. Olivia Dabney finished with a game-high four swatted shots.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona and Sacred Heart combined to shoot 55 free throws in the game. The Gaels (25-30, 83%) and the Pioneers (22-25, 88%) combined to shoot a ridiculous 85% from the charity stripe.
• Vezaldenos converted on 12 of her 13 attempts from the free throw line, the third-most in a single game in program history. Aleesha Powell was the last Gael to hit 12 free throws (vs. Rider in 2011-12). The program record is 16, set by Michelle Fahy in the 2003-04 season against Saint Peter's. 
• The Gaels hit three shots from beyond the arc in the third quarter after missing all seven of their attempts in the first half. The Maroon & Gold shot a combined 0-10 from three-point land in quarters 1, 2 and 4.
• The Gaels scored 51 of their 72 points in the second half, by far their best scoring output in a half this season.
• Iona reached 70 points for the first time this season. The Gaels are now 43-8 all-time under coach Chambers when they score 70+ points.
• The win is the Gaels' third straight of the season and their first against a non-conference opponent. It is Iona's first three-game win streak since the 2016-17 season.
• Iona had previously been 0-4 in games in which they trailed at halftime this season. The Maroon & Gold overcame the six-point halftime deficit to win.
• The Gaels have forced their opponent into 20 or more turnovers in three straight games, all wins. Iona has forced opponents into 20 or more turnovers in five of seven games this year.
• Iona is now 7-3 all-time against Sacred Heart. Tuesday afternoon was the first meeting between the two teams since 2014.

AROUND THE MAAC

• Saint Peter's and Fairleigh Dickinson tip-off at 7:00 p.m. in Hackensack, New Jersey.

UP NEXT

Iona returns to action on Friday, January 1 at Niagara. The Gaels and Purple Eagles are scheduled to tip-off at 1:00 p.m. at the Gallagher Center.

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