NORTH ANDOVER, MA —The Iona University women's basketball team fell to Merrimack, 81-36 on Saturday afternoon. The first meeting ever between the Gaels and Warriors at Hammel Court saw the home team lead wire to wire to take the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tilt.
 
Sophomore Zoey Ward and senior Ella Fajardo led the Gaels with nine points each. Ward and rookie Adrianna Gonzalez grabbed a team-high six rebounds each. Senior Erin Leary posted a team-high three assists and three blocks.

THE RUNDOWN

On its senior day, Merrimack got off to a torrid start with a 10-3 opening run capitalizing on three early Iona turnovers. Ward broke up the run with back-to-baskets of her own for the Gaels to make it a three-point game at the 4:39 mark. The Warriors countered with a 5-0 spurt before Fajardo connected on the triple. Merrimack would hit a pair of free throws in the final minutes of the opening quarter to take a 17-10 lead.
 
The Warriors pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring Iona 26-5 on a 55.6% shooting percentage. Merrimack continued to hold serve in the final two quarters to take the first ever meeting between the two programs.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Ward scored a team-high nine points to go with a team-high six rebounds.
• Fajardo also finished with a team-high nine points.
• Gonzalez recorded a career-high six rebounds.
• Leary led the team with three assists and recorded her 16^th multi-block game of the year to increase her season total to 52.

THE OPPONENT

• Rose Caso recorded a game-high 28 points with five made three-pointers
• Lydia Melashenko posted 12 points on four made three-pointers
• Thalia Shepard also finished in double figures with 10 points.
• Madison Roman grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to pair with seven assists.

TEAM STATS

• Merrimack out shot Iona 49.2%-21.9% for the game
• The Warriors shot 64.7% from downtown with 11 made three-pointers while Iona was held to four made triples, shooting 14.3%.
• Merrimack commanded the glass, outrebounding Iona 48-33.
• Iona committed 17 turnovers leading to 22 Merrimack points while the Warriors turned the ball over 16 times, leading to nine points for the Gaels.

UP NEXT

The Gaels return to the Hynes Center next week for the final two home games of the regular season. First up is the lone meeting this year against Niagara, tip off is at 6 PM on Thursday, February 27.