LOUDONVILLE, NY - The Iona College women's basketball team defeated Siena, 64-57, on Saturday afternoon at the UHY Center. Senior
Juana Camilion eclipsed 1,000 career points in the victory, finishing with a game-high 23 points.
Siena controlled the action for the opening nine minutes of action. The final minute of the first frame saw the Gaels chip away at the Saints' lead and pull within a possession of the lead. Siena jumped out to a 10-3 advantage by the midway point of the quarter, forcing Iona into missed shots and turnovers and turning them into points. The lead grew to 14-6 with a minute to play, but a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from Shyan Mwai made it a three-point deficit for the Maroon & Gold after the first 10 minutes.
Iona battled to keep it close, but could not get ahead of Siena in the second quarter. Four of the Gaels' five baskets in the frame saw them make it a one-possession game, but the Saints had an answer to pad the lead every time. The final answer from Siena was a fast-break layup for Selena Philoxy at the buzzer that made it a 26-21 ballgame at the half.
The third quarter was Iona's best offensively to that point, but the Gaels still could not overcome the deficit it faced. Similarly to the second quarter, Siena had an answer for every single Iona basket to pad its narrow lead. A trifecta from Olivia Vezaldenos with 1:48 to play in the period pulled the Maroon & Gold within one, 37-36, but Siena scored four points across the remainder of the frame to make it 40-36 after three full quarters.
Siena's advantage grew to six points with just over two minutes into the final frame, but from that point on it was all Iona. The Gaels ended the contest on a 25-12 run, totaling 28 points in the quarter to completely erase its deficit and leave with a seven-point victory. The dagger was Camilion's step-back jumper in front of the Iona bench that hit nothing but net, pushing Iona's lead to five points with 2:55 left to play. The basket also happened to be Camilion's 1,000th point of her career, a fitting way for the senior to reach the milestone. The Saints had been within one just two minutes earlier, but the Camilion basket was followed by a Vezaldenos triple that made it 57-49, the largest lead of the day for the Maroon & Gold. Iona did a near perfect job from the line over the final 40 seconds, converting on seven of its eight tries at the stripe, earning its third straight victory.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Camilion becomes the 28th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career-point mark with the Maroon & Gold with her 23 points today. She added eight rebounds for good measure and was a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe.
- Mwai and Vezaldenos each added 13 points apiece offensively, combining with Camilion to register 77 percent of Iona's total points.
- Across 26 minutes of action, Athias totaled five points, a team-high nine rebounds and an assist, block and steal.
- Hodge-Carr finished with six points and five rebounds. She is now averaging 10.3 points per game across her last three contests.
- The Gaels made 14-17 free throws, the most in a game this season for Iona. The 82.4 percent mark from the charity stripe is Iona's second-best performance this season behind a perfect mark (4-4) in the loss to Monmouth on December 18.
- As a team, Iona reached the 60-point mark for the fourth straight game and the sixth time this season. The Gaels are 5-1 this season in games where they score at least 60 points.
- The Maroon & Gold finished with a 43.1 percent field goal percentage, its seventh-best mark this season. For the first time this season, Iona won a game in which it finished with a field goal percentage between 40.0 and 44.9 percent; previously, the Gaels had lost all four contests with a final field goal percentage between 40.0-44.9.
- Despite Siena's 43.6 percent mark from the field, Iona emerged victorious. Previously, the Gaels had been 0-6 in games where the opponent shot better than 40.0 percent this season.
- Iona moves into a tie for seventh place in the conference standings with the win and currently sits just one win behind fourth-place Monmouth.
- The Gaels improve to 31-45 all-time against Siena and 11-9 under head coach Billi Chambers. Today's victory was Iona's first in Loudonville since March 7, 2019.
UP NEXT
Iona returns home to host first-place Fairfield and defend its three-game win streak. The Gaels and the Stags face-off at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 10.
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