STATEN ISLAND, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team picked up its second road win of the season on Monday night, defeating Wagner 63-57 at the Spiro Sports Center. The Gaels withstood a fourth quarter charge from the Seahawks by going 12-of-16 at the foul line in the final quarter.
 
Iona was led by graduate student Isabellah Middleton who registered a game-high 13 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Graduate student Ella Fajardo tallied a season-high 10 points. Sophomore Chloe Vasquez recorded 10 points in her season debut.

THE RUNDOWN

It was a slow start for both teams at the Spiro Sports Center. Vasquez broke open the scoring at the 7:38 mark and sparked a 7-2 run for the Gaels. Wagner punched back with a 6-0 spurt of their own to take an 8-7 lead with 3:29 left in the period. A spot up triple from Fajardo broke up the run and gave Iona back the lead. The Seahawks countered with a basket of their own before junior Claudia Fiel ended the period with a turnaround layup at the buzzer for the 12-10 lead.
 
Momentum carried over for the Gaels with a 5-0 start to the second frame as graduate student Naomi Barnwell netted all five points for the Gaels in the first three minutes. Wagner got its first points of the quarter with 5:55 to go in the frame. From there it was all Iona with a 12-5 close to the second quarter capped by a last second triple from senior Ale Civera for a 29-17 halftime lead.
 
Iona continued to roll out of the restart as Vasquez opened the quarter with an old fashioned three-point play and junior Zoey Ward connected on a three-pointer, forcing Wagner to call timeout. From there it was back and forth action with the Seahawks holding a 16-14 scoring margin in the final 7 minutes to bring the score to 49-33 in favor of the Gaels.
 
Wagner continued to punch back to start the final period with a 7-2 opening run through the first three minutes. A layup from Middleton broke up the spurt before the Seahawks went on an 11-6 stretch to make it a single digit deficit, 57-51 with 48 seconds left. The Gaels closed out strong with a 6-of-7 mark from the line as Middleton, Ward and sophomore Mya Zaccagnini each recorded a pair of free throws.

IONA PERFORMERS

Middleton netted seven of her 13 points at the foul line. Her game-high 11 rebounds were also a season-high.
Fajardo posted 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and three free throws. She also dished out a team-high three assists.
Vasquez went 4-of-8 from the field to go with

THE OPPONENT

• Irene Fernandez de Caleya led Wagner with 12 points and eight rebounds.
• Keana Foz also finished in double figures with 11 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

TEAM STATS

• Wagner held a slight advantage on field goal percentage, 35.7% to 33.3% over Iona.
• The Gaels connected on five triples for a 38.5% clip while the Seahawks only made three three-pointers at a 20% rate.
• Iona won the rebounding battle for the fourth time this season with a 41-36 margin on the glass.
• 56 fouls were called on the night. Iona went 26-of-37 at the foul line while Wagner was 14-of-25.
• Both teams only scored eight points off turnovers as the Gaels committed 20 turnovers and the Seahawks recorded 16 turnovers.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona improves to 16-4 against the Seahawks and has won the last nine meetings between the two schools. Coach Angelika Szumilo is now 9-1 in her career coaching against the Seahawks.
• Middleton recorded her third double-double of the season and the 13^th of her career. It was her fourth game scoring double figures. Fajardo finished in double figures for the first time this season and the 37^th time in her collegiate career. She led the Gaels in assists for the 30^th time as well.
• Vasquez posted the sixth double-digit scoring effort of her career and tied her career-high in steals.

UP NEXT

The Gaels return to the Hynes Athletic Center this weekend to host the Iona Turkey Tip-Off tournament. Iona will take on Saint Francis in the opening contest with a noon start on Friday, November 28. Maine and UIC will follow at 2:30 p.m. in the second game of the day.