NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak snapped on Monday afternoon with a 63-57 defeat to Saint Peter's in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Peacocks raced out to a big first quarter advantage at the Hynes Athletic Center to snap the seven-game winning streak by the Gaels in the all-time series.
 
Graduate student Isabellah Middleton led Iona with a game and season-high 26 points. She grabbed five rebounds and tied her career-high with six steals on the defensive end. Junior Zoey Ward recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. She also dished out a team-best four assists.

GAME SUMMARY

Iona held the early edge as the game got underway as Middleton logged the first six points in the 6-5 lead through the first four minutes of play. The Peacocks answered from there breaking the Iona press with a 13-4 closing run including a 4-for-4 mark from downtown to take a 18-10 lead at quarters end.
 
Saint Peter's continued to extend its lead to start the second stanza with the first two buckets of the frame. Iona's offense countered thanks to Middleton who scored seven points on a 7-3 run to force a Peacocks timeout with 4:37 to go. The Gaels continued to push the tempo out of the timeout with a 12-1 closing margin led by a pair of layups from graduate student Naomi Barnwell and a knockdown triple from graduate student Ella Fajardo to take a 29-26 halftime lead.
 
The Peacocks mounted a charge to start the second half with a 5-2 spurt to knot the game up. Ward spearheaded a seven-point Iona run to reclaim the lead and force a Saint Peter's timeout with 5:21 left to play. The visitors played a perfect final five minutes going 6-of-6 from the field in a 15-4 closing run to take back the lead, 46-42 as the game headed to the final quarter.
 
Iona looked for one final charge to start the fourth quarter with a 6-4 start as a pair of free throws from Ward made it a one possession game, 50-48 with 6:42 left. That would be the closest Iona would get as Saint Peter's closed the contest on a 13-9 advantage including a 7-for-8 mark at the charity stripe to secure the 63-57 win.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Middleton registered her fifth 20-point effort of the season, going 10-of-18 from the field on the way to a season-high 26 points. She was one point shy of tying her career high. Middleton registered five rebounds and tied her career-high of six steals on the defensive end.
• Ward picked up 13 points and went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe for Iona. She grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists.
• Barnwell finished the day with eight points going 2-for-2 from the field and 4-of-4 at the foul line. She added a team-high two blocks and a steal on the defensive end.

THE OPPONENT

• Saint Peter's finished with three scorers in double figures led by a team-high 16 points from Carys Roy.
• Reilly Sunday added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Peacocks.
• Nikola Zdenkova chipped in 10 points on the day.

TEAM STATS

• Saint Peter's shot 43.5% from the field and Iona shot 34.5% as a team.
• The Peacocks connected on eight triples at a 50% clip while the Gaels only made five three-pointers at 26.3% rate.
• Iona held a slight 31-30 rebounding advantage.
• The Gaels forced 18 turnovers leading to 17 points while the Peacocks forced 17 turnovers for 18 points.

UP NEXT

The Gaels hit the road for their next matchup with a trip to Rider on Thursday, January 22 for a 6 p.m. contest at Alumni Gym.