NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team recorded its third straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory on Wednesday afternoon with a 58-51 win over Merrimack. The Gaels raced out to a big lead at the Hynes Center for Kids Day and held off a second half Warriors charge to secure the win.
 
The Maroon & Gold had three scorers finish in double figures led by a game-high 15 points from graduate student Isabellah Middleton. She chipped in six rebounds, a game-high five steals and three assists. Junior Zoey Ward chipped in 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Graduate student Ella Fajardo added 10 points and junior Claudia Fiel dished out a team-high four assists.

THE RUNDOWN

Scoring was slow to start at the Warriors held a slight 5-2 advantage through the first three-minutes of action. Iona's offense got rolling from there as Ward hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 6:42 to play. That opened a 13-1 closing stretch for the Gaels with Middleton knocking in seven points and Ward added six points for a 15-6 first quarter lead.
 
Iona carried things over to start the second as Fiel and Ward picked up early baskets. Merrimack didn't get its first points of the frame till the 5:43 mark but settled in with a 14-5 closing stretch to make it a 24-20 ballgame at the halftime break.
 
The third quarter was back and forth with both sides trading baskets out of the intermission. Merrimack used a 4-0 spurt to make it a one-point game, 30-29 with 5:18 left to go. Iona responded with a 7-2 swing on a triple by Fajardo, a layup from junior Mya Zaccagnini and another layup from rookie Johanna Flores. The Warriors would grab the final basket of the third with just over two minutes to play to make it a 37-33 game.
 
Iona continued to hold the slight edge through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter with an 8-7 scoring edge over the Warriors. Merrimack made it a two-point game with 4:02 to go but the Gaels countered with a knockdown three-pointer from senior Ale Civera. The Warriors worked it to a one possession game a few minutes later but once again Civera hit a triple to extend the Iona lead. The Gaels closed out the game strong going 5-of-6 from the foul line the last 1:30 of play to seal the 58-51 win.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Middleton posted 15 points on six made field goals. She added six rebounds, five steals and three assists for the all-around effort.
• Ward recorded 13 points on five made field goals and three free throws. Her eight rebounds were a team-high.
• Fajardo chipped in 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting and a pair of free throws. She added two assists and two steals.
• Fiel finished with four assists to lead the Gaels.

THE OPPONENT

• Reigning MAAC Player of the Week Madison Roman led the Warriors with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
• Paloma Garcia registered 13 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assists.
• Oralye Kiefer also finished in double figures with 10 points along with six rebounds and four assists.

TEAM STATS

• Merrimack shot 37.7% for the game while Iona shot 36.7% as a team.
• Iona connected on five three-pointers at a 23.8% rate and the Warriors shot 20% with just three-made triples.
• Merrimack controlled the glass with a 41-33 advantage in rebounds.
• The Gaels forced 22 Warrior turnovers leading to 24 points, Iona committed just 10 turnovers leading to seven Merrimack points.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona registered its first win over second-year conference foe Merrimack.
• Head Coach Angelika Szumilo led team's now move to 7-3 all-time against the Warriors in the last five years.
• Middleton registered her 13^th double-digit scoring effort of the season and tallied a season-high in steals.
• Ward posted her 13^th straight game in double figures for Iona.
• Fajardo picked up her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season.

UP NEXT

The Gaels conclude the homestand at Hynes with on Monday, January 19 with a 1 p.m. showdown against Saint Peter's.