RIVERDALE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team returned to its winning ways on Saturday afternoon with a 65-51 victory over local rival Manhattan. The Gaels led wire-to-wire over the Jaspers and pulled ahead at Draddy Gymnasium with a big third quarter.
 
Junior Zoey Ward led the Maroon & Gold with her fifth double-double of the season scoring a team-high 20 points to pair with 12 rebounds and three assists. Graduate student Isabellah Middleton registered 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Graduate student Ella Fajardo tallied 11 points and a team-high four assists.

THE RUNDOWN

The Gaels came out the gates strong with a 12-5 start paced by four points from Middleton and Ward. Manhattan countered with a four-point swing to make it a one possession game. Iona remained poised with a 9-3 closing run led by five points from Middleton to take a 21-12 lead.
 
Scoring slowed in the second stanza as the Jaspers held a slight 12-11 margin for the 10 minutes. Both sides made just four field goals in the second quarter as Iona took a 32-24 lead into the halftime break.
 
Iona opened the second half with a steal and score from Middlton to begin a 6-0 run with the press forcing Manhattan to call timeout just over two minutes in. The Gaels continued to lead as the shooting woes continued. Iona outscored Manhattan 17-9 in the third to pull ahead. Ward led the charge with eight points in the third quarter.
 
The Gaels used another stellar start to the final period as Fajardo opened the quarter with a spot up triple to spark an 8-2 start capped by another three-pointer from sophomore Adrianna Gonzalez for Iona's largest lead of the game, 57-35 with 7:50 left to play. Manhattan looked to chip away at the deficit late as Iona closed out the game 6-of-6 at the foul line to earn the 65-51 victory.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Ward posted 20 points on six made field goals and a 7-of-9 day at the foul line. She added 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Middleton made seven field goals and was 4-for-4 at the foul line on the way to 19 points. She registered seven rebounds, two assists and two steals to pair with a blocked shot.
• Fajardo scored nine of her 11 points in the second half including a 4-for-4 showing at the charity stripe. She dished out a team-high four assists and grabbed three rebounds.
• Junior Mya Zaccagnini chipped in seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Graduate student Naomi Barnwell posted two blocked shots on the defensive end.

THE OPPONENT

• Brianna Davis led the Jaspers with 20 points and seven rebounds.
• Colette Mulderig registered 13 points and four rebounds.
• Hana Muhl dished out a game-high eight assists and four steals for the Jaspers.

TEAM STATS

• Iona led with a 33.9% field goal percentage to Manhattan's 30.2% as a team.
• Neither team shot well from distance as the Gaels recorded four made three-pointers at 19% and the Jaspers tallied three at a 17.6% rate.
• There were 40 combined free throws as Iona went 21-of-27 and Manhattan went 10-of-13.
• Iona won the rebounding battle 46-38.
• Both teams only netted eight points each off turnovers as Iona committed 14 turnovers to Manhattan's 15 turnovers.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona picked up its first win in Riverdale since February 23, 2023.
• Ward netted her 18^th 10+ point showing, her fourth 20-point game of the season and the fifth double-double on the year.
• Middleton registered her 17^th double-digit performance of the season. She led Iona in steals for the 14^th time.
• Fajardo recorded her third game in a row with 10+ points and the seventh of the season. She led Iona in assists for the ninth time this season.

UP NEXT

The Gaels return home to begin the final month of the regular season with a matchup against Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, February 5 for a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Hynes Athletic Center.