ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Iona University women's basketball team extended its winning streak to five games in a row with a 67-61 victory at Navy on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall. The Gaels offense had four scorers in double figures led by a career-high 23 points from junior Zoey Ward.
 
Ward recorded her new career-high and season-best on eight made field goals and five made free throws to pair with six rebounds. Junior Mya Zaccagnini registered 11 points for the Gaels. Graduate student Isabellah Middleton recorded 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Graduate Student Ella Fajardo recorded 10 points along with a team-high two assists and two steals.

THE RUNDOWN

It was dead even to start the contest as both teams built to a six-six standstill just over four minutes into the contest. Ward gave Iona back the lead with a triple just past the halfway point. Navy countered with a 6-3 run to make it a tie game 12-12 with 1:09 to go. A layup from Fajardo and another three-pointer from Ward gave Iona a 17-12 lead at quarters end.
 
Navy countered to start the second stanza with five straight points to knot the score back up. Senior Ale Civera kicked off a 6-2 run with a triple before Middleton banked home a three of her own for a 23-17 Iona lead. It was back and forth action from there with Iona holding a slight 7-6 edge in the final five minutes. A made free throw from Ward gave the Gaels a 30-25 first half lead.
 
Iona opened the second half with a knock down three-pointer from Zaccagnini for its largest lead of the game. From there it was all Navy as the home team shot 50% from the field and held Iona to three made field goals with a 17-9 closing run the final eight minutes to make it a 42-42 ballgame.
 
The Gaels remained poised to begin the fourth quarter with layups from Ward, Fajardo and then Ward once more for a 6-0 opening run to jump out in front 48-42 and force Navy to call time out with 8:25 to go. The Midshipmen countered with a 4-0 run of their own out of the break to force Iona to call a timeout of its own. Iona was able to reset thanks to back-to-back layups from Middleton and Ward to extend its lead. Navy would get as close as three with 2:45 to go but Iona was clutch at the foul line down the stretch, converting 9-of-10 to hold on and take the 67-61 victory

IONA PERFOMERS

• Ward recorded eight made field goals including a pair of triples to go with a 5-of-6 evening at the foul line for her 23 points.
• Zaccagnini posted 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting and a perfect 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.
• Middleton chipped in 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
• Fajardo added three made field goals and went 4-of-6 from the foul line for her 10 points.
• Graduate student Naomi Barnwell was clutch on the defensive end with four blocks. She added six points and five rebounds.

THE OPPONENT

• Zanai Barnett-Gay led Navy with 17 points and nine rebounds.
• Julianna Almeida posted 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists.
• Quinn Boettinger tallied 12 points, and Zoey Mesuch added 10 points.

TEAM STATS

• Both teams were near even on field goal percentage as Navy held a slight 39.7%-39.3% edge over Iona from the field.
• The Gaels made five triples at a 35.7% clip and held Navy to 16.7% three-point percentage and three made triples.
• Iona went 18-of-22 at the foul line while Navy was 12-of-18.
• Both teams were even on the glass at 36-36.
• Iona scored 17 points off 13 Navy turnovers while the Midshipmen only totaled eight on 12 Iona turnovers.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona picks up its third win over Navy and the first in Annapolis since November 17, 2013.
• The Gaels five-game winning streak is the longest since the 2022-23 season saw 16-games in a row during Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.
• Ward bested her previous career-high of 21 points with 23 in the win. She now has three 20-point performances in her career and has scored in double figures in the last four contests.
• Zaccagnini registered her third double-digit effort of the season with 11 points.
• Middleton now has scored 10-plus points in seven of Iona's nine games
• It was Fajardo's second straight double-digit scoring effort and third of the season.
• Barnwell's four blocks to push her season total to 14 which now leads the MAAC.

UP NEXT

The Gaels conclude non-conference play on Saturday, December 13 with a 7 p.m. contest against Dartmouth at the Hynes Athletic Center.