LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ —The Iona University women's basketball team survived a second half rally from Rider to earn a 65-60 road victory at Alumni Gym on Thursday evening. The Gaels move to 8-6 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play and earn the regular season series sweep over the Broncs.
 
Senior Ella Fajardo led the Maroon & Gold with a team-high 20 points on the night. Senior Judith Gomez registered 12 points to go with a team-high five rebounds and two steals. Senior Erin Leary picked up three rejections on the defensive end and sophomore Mya Zaccagnini dished out a team-high four assists.

THE RUNDOWN

Rider held the slight one-point favor through the first three minute of action. The Gaels then broke out with a 10-4 stretch paced by six points from Fajardo to take a 13-8 lead prompting Rider to call timeout with 3:17 to go in the frame. Iona continued to lead from there as a basket in the final minute by rookie Chloe Vasquez pushed the lead to 17-11.
 
The Broncs cut the deficit back down to three points in the opening minutes of the second frame. From there it was all Iona with a 12-2 run on four triples from junior Ale Civera, Vasquez, Leary and Gomez to take a 32-19 lead with 5:44 left to play. The Gaels continued to keep the Broncs at a distance as the quarter wound down. Leary capped second quarter with the team's sixth three-pointer of the frame to give the Gaels a 41-27 lead at halftime.
 
Rider came out of the break with an 13-2 run to bring it to a three-point game, 43-40 with 3:50 left in the third quarter. Zaccagnini broke up the scoring stretch for the opposition with a knock down three-pointer. The Broncs closed the frame on a 6-0 run to tie the game 46-46 as the game headed into the final stanza.
 
The final quarter was back and forth action as both teams traded baskets or the first five minutes, scoring eight points a side. Civera gave Iona a 56-54 lead before Gomez got a steal and score for a 4-0 Iona run with three minutes left to play. The Broncs punched back with its own 4-0 run to knot the score back up at 58-58 with 59 seconds to go. Gomez had a strong driving layup to take back the lead for the Gaels and then on the next possession Leary added a big-time steal. Iona then closed out the game going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe for the 65-60 victory.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Fajardo posted 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and a 6-of-7 night at the foul line.
• Gomez posted 12 points, going 5-of-9 from the field to pair with five boards and two steals.
• Five scorers finished with six points for the Gaels.
• Leary added three blocks on the defensive end.
• Zaccagnini dished out a team-high four assists.

THE OPPONENT

• Gabby Turco finished with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds for the Broncs.
• Winner Bartholomew chipped in 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
• Aliya McIver dished out a game-high five assists.

TEAM STATS

• Rider shot 51% and Iona shot 46% from the field on the night.
• The Gaels registered nine made three-pointers at a 45% clip while Rider was held to three triples at a 25% rate.
• The Broncs won the rebounding battle, 33-20.
• Iona secured 21 points off 20 Rider turnovers and the Broncs scored 12 points on 12 Iona turnovers.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• The Gaels improve to 36-27 all-time against Rider and secured the season series sweep over the Broncs for the first time in 2022-23.
• Fajardo posted her third 20-point performance on the season and her 13^th double-digit scoring effort of the year.
• Gomez registered double digits for the 12^th time this season.
• Zaccagnini tied her season-high with four assists.
• Leary recorded her 14^th multi-block game of the year and increased her season total to 47 blocks.

UP NEXT

The Gaels will hold Alumni Day on Saturday, February 15. Iona squares off against Quinnipiac at the Hynes Athletic Center for a 1 p.m. tip off.