JERSEY CITY, NJ — The Iona University women's basketball team erased a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter to earn a 56-50 win at Saint Peter's on Saturday afternoon. The Gaels outscored the Peacocks 19-6 in the final stanza to move to 2-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.

Senior Ella Fajardo scored 13 of her career and team-high 17 points in the final frame. She also dished out a team-high four assists. First-year forward Destinee Salgado totaled 8 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and totaled five rebounds. Senior Judith Gomez added 11 points along with five boards. Sophomore Zoey Ward grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Maroon & Gold.

THE RUNDOWN

The Peacocks dictated the pace early in the game, building to an early 11-6 advantage just past the halfway mark in the opening stanza. Gomez paced the Gaels to start the game with two made three-pointers. Iona settled in from there using a 10-3 closing stretch with four different scorers contributing led by three points from rookie Chloe Vasquez and senior Erin Leary to take a 16-14 lead at quarters end.
 
Saint Peter's controlled the start of the second frame with a 5-0 run to take back the lead and held the Gaels scoreless into the media timeout. A pair of free throws from Salgado out of the break broke up the run. From there Saint Peter's continued the hold serve as both teams traded baskets over the next few minutes. The home team closed the first half with four more points to take a 30-20 lead into the intermission.
 
The Maroon & Gold struck first out of the halftime break as senior Talia DePetrillo hit a contested three-pointer on the first possession. Saint Peter's then erupted on an 11-3 run to take a 41-28 lead, forcing the Gaels to call timeout. Iona settled down from there as a knockdown triple by Ward kicked off a 9-3 closing run for the visitors to cut the deficit to seven, 44-37 as the game headed into the final period.
 
Saint Peter's was there to answer the Iona attack as both teams scored in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. After a scoring drought by both sides, Fajardo knocked down a long three-pointer with 6:51 to go to begin the Iona comeback. Gomez followed with a driving layup to prompt a timeout by the Peacocks. The Gaels continued to attack as Salgado connected on a jumper from the foul line before Fajardo hit a step-back jumper to give Iona the lead 49-48 with 3:58 to go. Salgado added a layup to make it a three-point game with 1:20 left. Saint Peter's broke its eight-minute scoring drought with a pair of free throws with 53 seconds left. Fajardo delivered the dagger on a triple from the left side before sinking a pair of free throws to give Iona the 56-50 victory.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Fajardo posted 15 of her 17 points in the second half and connected on three three-pointers and went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. She dished out three of her four assists.
• Salgado shot 5-of-7 from the field and made two free throws for 12 points to go with five boards.
• Gomez connected on three triples and a layup for 11 points on the day. She recorded five rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Ward grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added five points.

THE OPPONENT

• Fatmata Janneh the MAAC's leading scorer posted a game-high 22 points along with seven rebounds.
• Laila Grant added 10 points for Saint Peter's.
• Louella Allana finished with seven points, four rebounds and four assists.

TEAM STATS

• Iona shot 40% from the field including a 50% clip in the second half while Saint Peter's shot 38.6% for the game.
• The Gaels tied its season-high with nine made three pointers for the second straight game, shooting 36% from distance. The Peacocks were held to just five triples at a 26.3% clip.
• Iona held a 31-26 advantage on the rebounding battle.
• The Gaels committed a season-low 10 turnovers while Saint Peter's only turned the ball over nine times.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona improves its winning streak over Saint Peter's to six straight games.
• Fajardo posted a career-high in scoring in her home state. It was her third straight double-digit scoring effort. She tied her season-high for made field goals and led the Gaels in assists for the fourth time this season.
• Salgado registered double figures for the second time this season.
• Gomez finished in double digits for the fourth time this year.

UP NEXT

Iona takes a brief holiday break before closing out the calendar year with the final non-conference game of the season. The Gaels will travel to Hofstra on Sunday, December 29 for a2 2 p.m. contest that will air on MSG Network and FloHoops.