NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona University women's basketball team defeated Mount St. Mary's, 63-44, on Thursday evening at the Hynes Athletics Center.
Natalia Otkhmezuri scored a season-best 18 points and
Juana Camilion posted a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win.
THE RUNDOWN
Iona opened the contest with eight straight points, holding Mount St. Mary's without a point for almost four minutes. Jo Raflo got the Mountaineers on the board at the 6:02 mark and Jessica Tomasetti followed with a trifecta to trim the deficit to three points. The Gaels ended the period on a 12-3 run, spanning more than five minutes, to take a 20-8 lead into the second quarter.
Otkhmezuri caught fire for the Maroon & Gold in the second quarter, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc and totaling 11 points in the frame. The Gaels' lead grew as large as 19 points on three occasions, but a cold spell over the final 90 seconds thwarted Iona's chances at building a 20-plus point lead at the half. Iona still carried a comfortable 36-19 advantage into the halftime break.
The Mount started fast in the second half, courtesy of back-to-back baskets from leading scorer Michaela Harrison to get within 12 points. The Gaels never allowed the Mountaineers to cut the deficit to single digits, however. Iona held the Mount scoreless for the final three-plus minutes and used a 7-0 run to end the period with its largest lead, 21 points, 49-28.
With a 20-point lead in the final frame, Iona used a 12-2 run to build the lead to 30 points with just over two minutes remaining. Mount St. Mary's ended the contest with 11 straight points over the final two minutes, but Iona grabbed the 63-44 victory.
IONA PERFORMERS
- Otkmezuri paced all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 4-4 mark from three-point range. It marked the first time this season that Otkhmezuri led the Gaels in scoring.
- Juana Camilion posted the second double-double of her career, scoring 10 points and pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds. Her 10 rebounds matched a career-best.
- Ketsia Athias added 11 points offensively and eight rebounds. She also dished out a game-high four assists, the 13th time this season that the senior has led the team in assists.
- Isabelle Lipinski matched a season and career-best mark with a game-high two blocked shots.
THE OPPONENT
- Natalie Villaflor led the Mountaineers in scoring with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
- Isabella Hunt corralled a game-high 10 rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
- Five different Mountaineers registered a steal apiece.
TEAM STATS
- The Gaels won the rebounding battle, 40-30. Iona's 40 boards were a season-best for the team. It was the first time Iona reached 40 rebounds in 19 contests, the last occurrence being February 24, 2022 against Rider.
- Iona held Mount St. Mary's to 31 percent shooting, the fourth time this season an opponent has shot below 35 percent. The Gaels are 5-0 when opponents shoot 35 percent or lower.
- The Maroon & Gold converted on 43 percent of their field goal attempts, marking the first time in three contests this season that Iona has won when shooting between 40-44.9 percent.
- The Gaels limited the Mount to 44 points, a season-low mark for an Iona opponent.
- Iona led wire-to-wire in the victory, leading by as many as 30 points at one point.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- With the win, Iona (10-5 overall, 5-1 MAAC) moved into sole possession of first place in the MAAC standings.
- Camilion now has 1,354 points for her career, 61 points behind a tie for ninth place on the program's all-time scoring leaderboard.
- Athias, scoring at a .563 clip in her Iona career, is on pace to break Linda McKetney's program record for career field goal percentage (55.4%).
- Head coach Billi Chambers earned her 125th career victory overall and 89th in conference play. It was her first career victory over Mount St. Mary's in the first ever meeting between the two programs.
AROUND THE MAAC
- Niagara topped Fairfield, 71-62, in overtime at Leo D. Mahoney Arena.
- Manhattan defeated Siena, 78-53, at Draddy Gymnasium.
- Marist downed Saint Peter's, 59-43, at McCann Arena.
- Rider outlasted Canisius, 61-56, at Alumni Gymnasium.
UP NEXT
Iona hits the road to wrap up the season series with Quinnipiac on Saturday, January 14. The Gaels and the Bobcats tip at 2:00 p.m. at M&T Bank Arena.
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