POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team kicked off the new year with a 69-67 victory over Marist on Thursday evening. A back-and-forth battle at McCann Arena, the Gaels took the lead at the charity stripe with six seconds left to improve to 3-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play and hand the Red Foxes their first home loss of the season.
 
Iona had four scorers finish in double figures against the Red Foxes. Sophomore Zoey Ward led the way with a career-high 18 points and added four steals and a pair of blocks on the defensive end. Senior Erin Leary tallied a season-high 13 points. Senior Judith Gomez added nine of her 12 points in the second half. Senior Ella Fajardo recorded 10 points and a team-high four assists.

THE RUNDOWN

A fast start from both teams with 10 combined points in the first two minutes of play. Iona got the first run of the game shortly after as a three-pointer from Fajardo jumpstarted an 8-0 run. A fast break layup from Leary capped the run to give the Gaels a 11-4 advantage with 6:37 to go in the frame. From there the Red Foxes would go 4-for-4 from the field over the next 3:55 to cut the deficit to two with just under two minutes left. Ward's third triple of the quarter and a corner three from sophomore Mya Zaccagnini pushed the lead back to eight. Marist would get the last basket of the frame to bring the score to 22-17.
 
Iona continued to hold the slight lead through the first four minutes of the second stanza as Zaccagnini hit a baseline jumper and rookie Chloe Vasquez scored four points. Marist rallied with a 12-2 run to take a 33-30 lead with 3:44 to go. A three-pointer from senior Judith Gomez cut the run and knotted things back up. The Red Foxes took back the lead 38-35 on a three-pointer before Ward connected on a turnaround jumper in the lane with 35 seconds left to bring the deficit to one, 38-37 at halftime.
 
Gomez gave Iona back the lead briefly with a driving layup in the first possession of the third quarter. Marist quickly answered with a 9-2 run in the next 3:29 of action, prompting the Gaels to call timeout. The Red Foxes continued to hold serve eventually building to their largest lead of the game 52-44 with 3:12 left to play in the quarter. Iona finally responded with a 9-2 closing stretch capped by a corner three-pointer from Fajardo to cut the deficit to one, 54-53 in the quarter.
 
The Red Foxes used a 5-2 start to the final frame to reclaim the lead, 59-55 with 7:36 left to play. The Gaels continued to keep pace over the next three minutes, eventually making it a one possession game, 63-61 on a put back layup from Leary with 4:19 left. Scoring slowed from there as the intensity rose as both teams went scoreless in the next two-plus minutes. Ward broke the scoring drought with a made free throw with 1:59 left. As time ticked down, Iona grabbed the one-point lead on a driving layup from Vaquez with 19 seconds left. Marist took back the lead on a layup with nine seconds left on a layup of their own. Off the set play from the team's final timeout, Iona drew a foul with six seconds left. Ward made a pair of free throws for the one-point lead once again. She followed that up with a steal on the next Marist possession giving Vasquez two free throw attempts, the rookie made one to make it a two-point game. The Gaels had fouls to give, forcing Marist to inbound with two seconds left. The final shot attempt from the home team as time expired fell short to seal the win for the Maroon & Gold.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Ward finished with a team-high 18 points and connected on three made three-pointers. She tallied a game-high four steals and two blocks.
• Leary recorded a season-high 13 points with four made field goals and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
• Gomez totaled 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and Fajardo posted 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
• Four Gaels tallied a team-high five rebounds as Gomez, Leary, Ward and Vasquez grabbed five boards.
• Vasquez added nine points and three assists off the bench for Iona.

THE OPPONENT

• Morgan Lee finished with a game-high 19 points along with nine rebounds and four assists for Marist.
• Lexie Tarul registered 15 points and a game-high five assists.
• Ciara Croker added 12 points for the Red Foxes.

TEAM STATS

• The game saw 10 different lead changes and was tied up five times on the night.
• Marist held the slight 48.1% advantage shooting on the night while Iona shot 47.2% as a team.
• Both teams connected on nine made three-pointers.
• The Gaels took advantage at the charity stripe going 10-for-14 while the Red Foxes went 6-for-7.
• Iona committed just 11 turnovers while Marist turned the ball over 15 times.  

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona continues its stellar start to MAAC play, moving to 3-0 in conference action for the first time since 2015-16.
• The Gaels have now won three in a row against the Red Foxes and is 4-1 in the last five meetings.
• Ward totaled a career-high in scoring with 18 points, her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the year. She also registered a career-high in steals.
• Leary finished in double digits for the first time as a member of the Maroon & Gold with a season-high 13 points. She recorded a pair of blocks on the defensive end for her ninth game with multiple blocks this year.
• Gomez recorded double figures for the third straight game and sixth time this season. It is the fourth game in a row with multiple made three-pointers.
• Fajardo scored 10 points for her fifth double-digit scoring effort.

UP NEXT

After three straight road contests, the Gaels return to the Hynes Athletic Center on Saturday, January 4 for a 1 p.m. contest against Siena.