LOUDONVILLE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team dropped a close matchup on the road Saturday afternoon, falling to Siena 79-68 at the UHY Center. The Gaels reclaimed the lead early in the fourth quarter but were unable to withstand a late charge by the Saints to split the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season series between the two teams.
 
The Gaels had two scorers eclipse 20 points for the game. Senior Ella Fajardo led the way with a career-high 22 points to go with a game-high five assists. Sophomore Zoey Ward also registered 20-plus points with a career-high 21 points for the game and a team-high five rebounds. Senior Erin Leary finished the game with three steals and two blocked shots on the defensive end to pair with nine points.

THE RUNDOWN

The two teams traded blows from the opening tip as Iona connected on its first three three-pointers to take a 9-6 lead just three minutes into the action. The Gaels continued pace the opening frame as a pair of free throws from Leary to extend the lead to five. Siena's offense started to click in the final 4:36 of action in the first, outscoring Iona 17-7 to take a 25-20 lead.
 
Siena continued its hot shooting in the second quarter with a 15-5 margin to start the frame and build up to its largest lead of the afternoon, 40-25 with 3:35 left in the opening half. Iona picked up baskets from Fajardo and senior Talia DePetrillo to cut into the deficit and bring the score at halftime to 41-29 in favor of the home side.
 
Iona utilized its press out of the intermission causing five Siena turnovers in the first 3:30 of play to force a timeout from the Saints. A 7-3 run out of the timeout with four points from Ward and a knock down three from Leary cut the deficit to seven, 49-42 with 4:49 to go. The Gaels continued the strong third quarter with a 10-6 closing stretch to make it a three-point game 55-52 heading into the final frame. Ward led Iona with 13 points in the frame to pace the comeback bid.
 
Momentum carried over into the fourth quarter as sophomore Mya Zaccagnini began the period with a knockdown triple followed by a steal and then one more three-pointer to give Iona back the lead 58-55 with 9:26 left to go. Siena responded out of its called timeout with a 7-0 run to take back the lead. A triple from Fajardo cut the run briefly before another 7-0 run from the Saints to take firm hold of the game. Siena outscored Iona 10-7 down the stretch including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line to take the matchup and earn the season series split with the Gaels.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Fajardo posted a new career-high with 22 points on the day, scoring 15 of those points in the second half. She was a perfect 4-of-4 from long distance and dished out a game-high five assists. It was the second 20-point effort of the season for Fajardo.
• Ward registered a new career-high with 21 points on the day to go with a team-high five rebounds. She has scored in double figures in each of the last four games for the Gaels.
• Leary recorded nine points to go with a team-high three steals and a pair of blocks. She increased her MAAC lead to 39 blocks this season and has posted two or more blocks in 12 games this season.
• DePetrillo also registered a team and season-high three steals on the defensive end for Iona.

THE OPPONENT

• Ahniysha Jackson registered a game-high 27 points for the Saints.
• Teressa Seppala posted 18 points and five rebounds.
• Myriam Traore also finished in double figures with 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
• Anajah Brown posted a team-high four assists to go with eight points and six rebounds.

TEAM STATS

• Siena shot 52% from the field for the game while Iona shot 41.4% as a team.
• The Gaels shot above 50% from downtown for the second straight game, going 52.4% from distance with 11 made three-pointers. The Saints shot 38.9% from three-point range.
• Siena commanded the glass with a 34-18 advantage. Iona was held to a new season-low for rebounds.
• The Gaels committed just 13 turnovers while Siena turned the ball over 17 times.

UP NEXT

The Gaels return to the Hynes Athletic Center on Thursday, January 30 for a 6 p.m. tilt against Manhattan.