NEW ROCHELLE, NY— The Iona University women's basketball team opened the new season with a 65-50 victory over Mercy on Monday afternoon at the Hynes Athletic Center. The Gaels led wire to wire in the first matchup between the two Westchester schools since December 29, 1981.
 
The Maroon & Gold were led by double-digit scoring from a pair of newcomers in graduate students Isabellah Middleton and Naomi Barnwell. Middleton recorded a game-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting to go with 10 rebounds for a double-double effort. Barnwell posted 18 points on seven made field goals to go with four rebounds. Junior transfer Claudia Fiel dished out a game-high five assists.

THE RUNDOWN

Iona jumped out to an early lead in the opener with a 7-1 opening run led by five points from Barnwell in the first two minutes of play. Mercy punched back over the next six minutes, twice cutting the deficit to one. The Gaels regrouped with an 8-0 closing run paced by four made free throws from Middleton. A driving layup from graduate student Ella Fajardo brought the score to 17-8 at the end of the first frame.
 
The Gaels continued to hold serve in the start of the second stanza with baskets from junior Zoey Ward and senior Ale Civera and Fiel to neutralize two baskets from the Mavericks. Mercy countered with its biggest scoring run of the contest with a 10-0 spurt over the next 2:12 to bring the score to 25-22 with 1:42 left to play. A free throw from junior Mya Zaccagnini broke up the run to lead off a back-and-forth final 1:25 of first half action. The visitors used a basket at the buzzer to cut Iona's lead 31-27 at the intermission.
 
Mercy carried momentum over at the start of the third quarter with an 8-4 start to tie the game at 35-35 with 7:24 to go in the period. Iona answered on a driving layup from Middleton to jumpstart a 16-2 regrouped with a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to jump ahead 51-38. Middleton contributed seven points and Zaccagnini chipped in five points on the scoring run. A 5-2 closing run from the visitors brought the score to 53-42 at the end of the third quarter.
 
The Mavericks grabbed the first basket of the final frame to get things rolling. It was all Iona from there with an 8-0 run on two baskets by Middleton and layups from Barnwell and Fiel to take a 61-44 lead, the largest of the game. From there the Gaels held the Mavericks at bay to take the matchup 65-50.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Middleton posted a double-double in her first game as a Gael. She registered 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. She also recorded seven of her 10 rebounds in the second half. Middleton also made a game-high four steals.
• Barnwell tallied 18 points for the Maroon & Gold to go with four rebounds, two steals and one block.
• Fiel dished out a game-high five assists.

THE OPPONENT

• Grace Lesko led the Mavericks with 15 points with a game-high four made three-pointers to pair with six rebounds.
• Megan Marcotte also finished in double figures with 11 points.
• Angelina Barrera grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
• Amani Abuhatab dished out a team-high four assists.

TEAM STATS

• Iona held a slight field goal advantage at 33.8% to 32.1% by Mercy.
• Both teams made four three-pointers on the day with the Mavericks shooting 28.6% while the Gaels shot 23.5% from distance.
• Iona won the battle on the glass with 47 rebounds to 40 boards by the opposition.
• The Gaels forced 23 turnovers while committing 11 turnovers in the opener.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Middleton recorded her first 20-point performance as a Gael and the 16^th time in her collegiate career. The double-double was the 11^th of her career.
• Barnwell posted her 11^th career double-digit scoring performance and first with the Maroon & Gold, tying her career-high with seven made field goals.
• Fiel dished out five plus assists for the third time in her collegiate career.
• Zaccagnini totaled a career-high nine rebounds and two blocks to go with six points and four assists.

UP NEXT

The Gaels are set to embark on a four-game road swing over the next three weeks. First up is a trip to New Haven on Sunday, November 9 for a 1 p.m. matchup.