NEW ROCHELLE, NY— The Iona University women's basketball team closed out the 2025-26 regular season with its fifth consecutive win on Thursday night with a 65-59 victory over rival Manhattan. After Jaspers tied it up with just under four minutes left at the Hynes Center, the Gaels closed out the game on a 10-4 run to earn the season series sweep.
 
As a team, Iona shot a season-best 47.2% from the field and had four scorers post double figures. Graduate student Ella Fajardo eclipsed 1,000 career points in the opening quarter and finished with 13 points and a game-high five assists for the Maroon & Gold. Graduate student Isabellah Middleton tallied a team-high 14 points to pair with three steals.
 
Junior Zoey Ward registered her third straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Mya Zacagnini recorded seven of her 13 points in the final frame for the Gaels.

THE RUNDOWN

Iona got off to a hot start as Middleton kicked off the game with the first two baskets. Manhattan countered with a 6-0 run of their own. Iona grabbed the lead on back-to-back triples from Middleton and Ward to take a 10-6 lead. After a Jaspers basket, Fajardo netted back-to-back buckets with her pullup jumper with 3:03 left to play, surpassing the 1,000-point milestone. The Jaspers quickly called timeout to regroup down the stretch. It was a 7-5 closing margin in favor of the visitors to give the Gaels a 19-15 lead.
 
The Gaels came out firing to start the second quarter as Zaccagnini opened with an 11-4 run to take a 30-19 advantage and forced Manhattan to take its second timeout with 7:14 to go. Zaccagnini and Middleton tallied four points apiece on the run for Iona. The Jaspers responded with a 9-4 swing over the next three minutes of play to cut into the deficit. Ward capped the first half with a driving layup with two seconds left to give Iona a 36-28 advantage.
 
Iona kept Manhattan at a distance in the third stanza, outscoring the visitors 16-12 in the frame to take a 52-40 lead into the fourth. Six different Gaels scored in the period, led by five points from Fajardo.
 
Manhattan turned up the defensive pressure to start the fourth quarter, forcing five Iona turnovers in the first 4:26 of the period. That led to an 11-2 scoring run for the Jaspers to make it a one possession game, 54-51 as the Gaels called timeout to regroup. Manhattan used a 4-1 run over the next minute to knot the score up at 55-55 with 3:52 to play. An acrobatic layup from Ward off a stellar assist from Fajardo on the next possession sparked a 10-4 closing stretch for the Gaels to seal the 65-59 win. Iona was 6-for-8 at the foul line down the stretch and Zaccagnini netted all of Iona's seven points in the final two minutes of action.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Middleton led Iona with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting to pair with three rebounds and three steals.
• Zaccagnini was 4-for-7 from the field and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe for her 13 points. She added four rebounds and four assists on the night.
• Fajardo posted 13 points on five made field goals and dished out a team-high five assists.
• Zard also added 12 points on five field goals and secured a team-high 10 rebounds.
• Junior Claudia Fiel also dished out four assists to pair with four points and three rebounds.

THE OPPONENT

• Brianna Davis registered a game-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting and a 9-for-9 mark at the foul line. She recorded a game-high four steals.
• Colette Mulderig chipped in 10 points for the Jaspers.
• Agar Farres Garcia tallied a game-high 13 rebounds and Hana Muhl dished out a team-high five assists.

TEAM STATS

• Iona shot a team-high 47.2% from the field while Manhattan shot 35.5% as a team.
• The Gaels connected on six three-pointers at 31.6% on the night and held the Jaspers to one made three-pointer at a 9.1% clip.
• Manhattan won the rebounding battle, 37-32.
• Both teams netted 13 points off turnovers as Iona had 15 turnovers to Manhattan's 13.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona caps the 2025-26 season with a 19-11 mark and a 12-8 MAAC record.
• The Gaels pick up the season sweep over the Jaspers for the first time since the 2022-23 season and cut the series deficit to 59-38.
• Fajardo has scored 760 of her 1010 career points in 92 games as a member of the Maroon & Gold. It was her 11^th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
• Middleton logged her 23^rd game in double figures this year.
• Zaccagnini recorded her 10^th double-digit scoring performance on the season.
• Ward registered her third straight double-double and ninth of the season. It was also her 23^rd game with 10-plus points.

UP NEXT

With the results from around the conference, Iona locked up the four-seed in the 2026 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship, March 5-9. The Gaels are on the bye for the final date of the regular season and await their opponent following the conclusion of league play on Saturday, February 28.