NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College women's basketball team lost to Marist on Tuesday morning, 73-56. The Maroon & Gold ended the game on a 17-0 run, holding the Red Foxes scoreless for the final seven-plus minutes of the contest.

GAME SUMMARY

On an earlier-than-usual game for both sides, both offenses were clicking in the early going at the Hynes Center. Marist grabbed a 4-0 lead to open the game, but Lucia Becerra Perez followed with the first three-pointer of her career to get Iona on the board.
 
Two buckets from Alana Gilmer would give Marist a 9-5 advantage at the 5:57 mark. Juana Camilion hit on a trifecta to bring Iona with one point, then Tori Lesko followed with a layup inside just past the halfway point of the period to give the Gaels their first lead, 10-9. Marist answered that with an 8-0 run and would close out the final 4:30 of the opening frame on a 15-4 run to take a 10-point lead into the second quarter.
 
Three-pointers from Gilmer and Allie Best to begin the second frame pushed the Red Foxes' lead to 14 points, the team's largest of the game to that point. Shyan Mwai checked in with back-to-back baskets, her first points of the game to trim the deficit to single digits again, 30-21, with just over five minutes left in the half. 
 
The Hand sisters, Hannah and Rebekah, scored the next six points for the visitors and once again extended the advantage to double-figures. Marist would close out the final 1:57 with three straight field goals, heading into the break with a 42-26 lead.
 
Carrying an already sizable lead into the third quarter, the Red Foxes built upon it by scoring the first 11 points and extending the advantage to 53-26. Marist's lead would grow to as large as 30 points by the end of the third quarter.
 
The Gaels played well in the final frame, holding the Red Foxes scoreless for the final 7:15 of regulation. Paulla Weekes opened up the quarter with a triple from the corner, but Marist followed with nine straight points to open up a 73-39 lead. 
 
The Maroon & Gold would be responsible for the final 17 points of the contest, getting scoring contributions from Monica Barefield, Camilion, Mwai, Jodi-Marie Ramil and Aiste Vaitekunaite. Unfortunately for Iona, it was too little to late, and Marist secured the victory, 73-56.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

• Gilmer led all scorers with 16 points. Her seven made field goals were also a high-mark for the game. Three Gaels registered double-digit points, led by Mwai's 14 points. 
• Grace Vander Weide had an incredibly unique stat line, registering game-highs in rebounds (10) and assists (12), despite not scoring a single point on three field goal attempts.
• Weekes finished with three steals, the most among all participants. Neither team registered a blocked shot.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Weekes scored double-digit points for the third time this season and the second time in the last four games. Paulla finished with 10 points on 4-8 FG.
• Mwai reached the double-figure scoring plateau for the ninth time this season, pouring in 14 points on 6-14 shooting from the floor. 
• Camilion scored 10 points across 27 minutes of action, playing sparingly due to foul trouble. 
• Hannah Hand's 15 points were one-off the game-high and were a season-best for the senior.
• The Red Foxes had four different scorers register double-digit points, while also shooting over 50 percent from the field, individually. 
• Vander Weide's 12 assists are the most against the Iona defense this season. As a team, Marist doled out 28 assists, the most by a Gael opponent this year.
• Becerra Perez knocked down the first three-pointer of her career in the first quarter. Vaitekunaite registered the first steal of her career late in the fourth frame.
• Ramil notched a season-high in points, scoring on both of her field goal attempts inside the painted area.
• As an offensive unit, Marist shot 31-60 from the field and 9-26 from beyond the arc. 
• Both sides combined to shoot just 11 free throws on the afternoon.
• Iona is now 6-10 in games that tip-off prior to noon under head coach Billi Chambers. 

UP NEXT

Iona makes its annual trip upstate to Buffalo, NY for games against Canisius (February 6 at 7:00 p.m.) and Niagara (February 8 at 1:00 p.m.).

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