NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team opened Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a 64-58 setback in overtime on Friday night. The Gaels erased a first half deficit at the Hynes Center before the Pioneers closed out the extra period with a 6-1 final stretch to take the league opener.
 
Graduate student Isabellah Middleton led the Maroon & Gold with a team-high 20 points on eight made field goals to pair with five rebounds and two assists. Junior Zoey Ward totaled 11 points for the Gaels along with a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Mya Zaccagnini finished with nine points and a career-high seven steals.

THE RUNDOWN

Iona looked to set the tempo from the opening tip with the first four points of the contest from graduate student Naomi Barnwell. But the Pioneers quickly settled in scoring on the offensive end and limiting the Gaels to two made field goals in the final seven plus minutes for a 17-5 run to take a 17-9 lead at first quarters end.
 
Scoring slowed down to start the second stanza as SHU picked up the first basket of the frame with 6:57 to go. Iona's offense woke up from there as sophomore Adrianna Gonzalez kicked off a 9-0 run with a layup. The Gaels also got a steal and immediate triple from Zaccagnini and a quick steal off the press and lay in from senior Ale Civera to make it a one-point game and forced SHU to call timeout. The Pioneers punched back out of the timeout with a four-point spurt before Zaccagnini picked up the final basket of the first half to make it a 23-20 ballgame.
 
The visitors jumped ahead with the first four points in the restart before Middleton took over the game. The Leesburg, VA native totaled 15 points in the final 8:01 as Iona outscored SHU 16-10 during that stretch and scooped up three steals. Junior Claudia Fiel connected on a free throw in the final second to make it a 37-36 game heading into the fourth quarter.
 
SHU pushed its lead back up to three just over two minutes into the fourth, forcing Iona to take its first timeout. The Gaels answered as a free throw from graduate student Ella Fajardo followed by layups from Ward and Zaccagnini in the next 35 seconds gave Iona back the lead 43-41. It was back and forth action from there with both teams trading blows. A knockdown three from Fajardo gave Iona a 52-50 lead with just under two minutes to play. SHU had a chance to win the game after an intentional foul by the Gaels with 14 seconds left but only made one shot at the line. The Pioneers got the ball back, but the Iona defense came up once again with a steal to force overtime.
 
To start the extra period, the Pioneers raced out to an early four-point advantage. Iona countered with a 5-2 swing paced by a layup and three-pointer from Ward to make it a one-point game with 2:12 to go. SHU closed out the game with a 6-1 run as Iona missed four field goals down the stretch to bring the final to 64-58.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Middleton logged her second 20-point performance of the season and tied her season-high with eight made field goals. She added five rebounds and tied for the team lead with two dimes.
• Ward finished in double figures for the sixth straight game with 11 points. She scored six points in the extra period for Iona. Ward added a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of assists along with a block on the defensive end.
• Zaccagnini finished with nine points, three rebounds, a block and seven steals. Her steal total was the most in a game by a Gael since 12/19/20 when Juana Camillion tallied eight steals against Rider.

THE OPPONENT

• SHU had two scorers post 20-points on the night.
• Amelia Wood recorded a game-high 21 points, eclipsing 1,000 career points in the fourth quarter. She also added 11 rebounds and a team-high four steals and two blocks on the night.
• Nalyce Dudley finished with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting and a 5-of-6 showing at the foul line.
• Scarsdale native Sophie Nascimento totaled a game-high 14 rebounds and four assists.

TEAM STATS

• As a team SHU shot 41.3% from the field while Iona shot 29.6% on the night.
• Neither team could fine rhythm from downtown as the Gaels shot 18.5% with five triples and the Pioneers were held to one made three at 11.1%
• SHU held a commanding 46-37 lead in the rebounding battle.
• 57 free throws were shot in the opener with the Pioneers connecting on 25-of-37 while the Gaels made 11-of-20 at the charity stripe.
• Iona forced a season-high 24 turnovers leading to 25 points. The Gaels totaled 16 turnovers leading to 14 SHU points.

UP NEXT

The Gaels make the trip down to Mount St. Mary's for the first time in two seasons on Sunday, December 21 for a 3 p.m. tilt at Knott Arena.