NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University women's basketball team opened the final month of the regular season with a 63-62 defeat to Mount St. Mary's on Thursday evening at the Hynes Athletic Center. In a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tilt that saw 19 lead changes, the Mountaineers pulled ahead over the Gaels on a game winning three-pointer with 5.4 seconds left to secure the season series sweep.
Junior
Zoey Ward led the Maroon & Gold with a game and career-high 27 points to pair with 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Graduate student
Isabellah Middleton registered 11 points, six rebounds and four steals. Graduate student
Ella Fajardo and junior
Mya Zaccagnini both dished out a team-high four assists.
THE RUNDOWN
The opening frame between the Gaels and Mountaineers saw eight lead changes. Iona struck first with a 5-2 start on a layup from Ward and a knock down triple from Fajardo. Both teams traded blows from there before Mount took its largest lead of the quarter with a 5-0 swing to take a 15-11 lead with 2:47 left to play. Iona closed the frame on an 8-2 run led by Ward who scored six of her 12 first quarter points in the final two minutes to give the Gaels a 19-17 lead at quarters end.
Mount St. Mary's knotted the score back up to begin the second stanza before Iona countered with a 5-0 run on a layup by graduate student
Naomi Barnwell and a triple from Middleton. The Mountaineers countered with a 9-2 run forcing the Gaels to call timeout with 5:13 left. Iona responded with an 8-4 spurt to take back the lead 34-32 with just under two minutes to play. The visitors got the last punch of the half with a 5-1 closing run to take a 37-35 lead.
The third quarter was the closest scoring margin of the night as the Mountaineers held a slight 16-15 margin. Iona was chasing in the third and worked its way back into the lead with a pullup baseline jumper from Zaccagnini and free throw from Ward for a one-point edge, 47-46 with 3:47 to play. Mount St. Mary's regrouped with a 7-4 end to the third to take a 53-50 lead into the fourth.
Iona responded to start the final frame as Middleton recorded a driving layup and Fajardo hit a floater in the lane to take back the one-point lead. Mount St. Mary's was held scoreless the first 3:30 of fourth quarter before finally countering on a triple to reclaim the lead. It was back and forth the next minute and a half before the Gaels embarked on a 5-0 run on baskets by Middleton and Ward plus a free throw from Barnwell to take a 61-58 lead with 1:31 to play. After a pair of misses on the next two possessions, Mount cut the deficit with 19 seconds left on a pullup jumper. Iona was only able to push the lead back to one with 13 left to play. The Mountaineers grabbed the lead on a deep step back three-pointer with 5.4 left to play. Iona had one last look as time expired, but the shot was just offline as the visitors hung on for the one-point win.
IONA PERFORMERS
- Ward registered a career-high 27 points on nine made field goals and a career-high eight free throws. She grabbed 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. The scoring output was her 19th contest in double figures and the fifth 20-point effort of the season.
- Middleton recorded her 18th game in double figures with 11 points. She tallied a game-high four steals on the defensive end to pair with six boards.
- Fajardo finished with nine points, four assists and three rebounds while Zaccagnini added seven points, four assists and three boards.
THE OPPONENT
- Mount St. Mary's was led offensively by 22 points from Alana Powell.
- Amber Bullard added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
- Giana Hoddinott scored nine points including the game winning triple along with a game-high six assists.
TEAM STATS
Mount St. Mary's outshot Iona, 42.6% to 39.7% from the field.
Both teams connected on five three-pointers with the Mountaineers shooting 45.5% while the Gaels shot 29.4%
Mount held a slight 35-34 edge on rebounds.
The Gaels committed 12 turnovers that led to 16 points for Mount and Iona only scored 12 points off 14 Mountaineer turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Gaels wrap up the weekend on Saturday, February 7 with a 1 p.m. contest at Fairfield. It is the lone meeting between the two founding MAAC members in the regular season.
