NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team was edged out by Navy in a back-and-forth non-conference tilt, 55-53 on Tuesday afternoon. The Maroon & Gold opened the 2024-25 home schedule with a crowd of 2,171 for Kids Day at the Hynes Athletic Center.
 
Senior Judith Gomez registered a game-high 16 points and four assists. She added 10 rebounds for the double-double effort. Sophomore Zoey Ward also tallied her first career double-double with a career-high 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Emma Donnelly added a career-high 10 points for the Maroon & Gold.

THE RUNDOWN

The Midshipmen struck first with the opening bucket on a corner three before Iona went on an 8-0 run led by two three-pointers from Gomez. Navy answered with a 7-0 run of their own to take 10-8 lead with 4:12 to go. The Gaels closed the quarter on a 11-3 stretch led by five points from Donnelly and four points from sophomore Mya Zaccagnini to take a 19-13 lead at the quarter break.
 
Navy punched back to start the second frame with a 7-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. From there it would be back-and-forth action with the score getting tied on four occasions. The Maroon & Gold eventually took a late lead on a pair of free throws from Zaccagnini to go up by two with 1:22 left but the Midshipmen got the last basket to take a 26-26 game into halftime.
 
A quick five points from Navy kicked off the second half of play. Iona quickly responded with a 9-0 run paced by four points from Ward to take a 35-31 lead with 5:36 left in the frame. The Midshipmen answered right back with a 6-0 stretch to take back a two-point lead, 37-35. Donnelly would tie the game on the next possession, but the visitors used a 7-2 closing run to take a 44-39 lead into the final frame.
 
The Midshipmen would build to their largest lead of the game, 50-42 with 7:40 left in the frame. Both teams struggled to score in the next few minutes before Ward put together a five-point stretch on a layup and knockdown three-pointer. Zaccagnini then added a made free throw to bring the score to 50-48 with 2:33 left to play. Navy would build its lead back to six with 1:08 to go prompting an Iona timeout. Gomez got two baskets in the final minute to make it a one possession game with 27 seconds left. After Navy made one of two free throw attempts with 23 seconds to go, Iona had a chance to tie the game late but was fouled by the visitors with 1.5 seconds left. A make on the first, the Gaels were unable to secure the quick rebound and score to bring the final to 55-53.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Gomez went 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from distance on the way to a game-high 16 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists to do with three steals and a block on the defensive end.
• Ward made seven field goals for 15 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. She registered three steals and a blocked shot on the defensive end.
• Donnelly was the third member of the Maroon & Gold to record double digits finishing with 10 points to go with six rebounds.
• Senior Talia DePetrillo also dished out a team-high four assists.

THE OPPONENT

• Zanai Barnett-Gay led Navy with a team-high 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
• Maren Louridas added nine points and six rebounds before fouling out.
• Toni Papahronis recorded four assists and a game-high four blocks. 

TEAM STATS

• The Midshipmen shot 38.2% from the field while Iona was held to a 30.4% clip.
• Navy made four triples for a 50% clip while Iona made six but was just 21.4% for the game from downtown.
• The Gaels won the rebounding battle, 43-39.
• Iona forced 19 turnovers leading to 24 points while Navy forced 15 turnovers leading to 19 points.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Gomez tied her career-high in scoring and registered the fourth double-double of her career.
• Ward set new career-highs in points, rebounds and steals on the way to her first career double-double.
• Donnelly tallied a new career-high in both points and rebounds.
• Depetrillo tied her career-high with four assists for the Maroon & Gold.

UP NEXT

The Gaels travel to Rutgers on Friday, November 15 for an 11 a.m. tip-off from Jersey Mike's Arena.