ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — The No. 4 seed Iona University women's basketball team extended its winning streak to six in a row after a 59-50 quarterfinal win over No. 5 Siena in the 2026 MAAC Championship quarterfinals at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. The Maroon & Gold eclipsed their 20^th win of the season, becoming just the eighth team in program history to reach the mark.
 
The Gaels had three scorers in double figures led by a game-high 14 points from junior Mya Zaccagnini who also dished out three assists. Graduate student Ella Fajardo scored all 11 of her points in the second half and three assists. Graduate student Naomi Barnwell recorded 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Graduate student Isabellah Middleton added eight points, six rebounds and a game-high six steals. Junior Zoey Ward finished with eight points and 12 rebounds for the Gaels.

THE RUNDOWN

It was a back-and-forth action to start the game with the Saints holding a 9-8 edge. Four of the five Iona starter's chipped in a basket in the first five minutes of game action. Siena added three more points on a free throw attempt to take a 12-8 advantage with 3:38 to play. The Gaels closed out the quarter on baskets in the lane from Middleton and Barnwell down the stretch to bring the score to 12-12.
 
Iona broke the tie ball game with a 6-1 start to the second stanza on baskets from Zaccagnini and senior Ale Civera and Ward. The Saints countered on a triple for their first made basket of the quarter at the 5:06 mark before sophomore Adrianna Gonzalez added a putback basket of her own. Another 4-0 swing from the Saints made it a tie ballgame with 1:55 left to play. The Gaels grabbed the 22-20 halftime lead thanks to another layup from Gonzalez with 25 seconds to go.
 
Siena punched first out of the intermission with a five-point run to take back the lead. The Gaels countered with a five-point spurt of their own on a triple from Zaccagnini and a layup from Barnwell to take back the brief lead. Siena tied it right back up before Zaccagnini and Middleton countered with back-to-back baskets to give the Gael the lead once more. It was dead the final four minutes of the third quarter with both sides scoring 10 points each to take a 41-37 Iona lead into the final frame.
 
Iona got off to a strong start in the fourth quarter with a 6-3 run paced by four points from Fajardo and a pair of free throws from Barnwell. Siena countered with a 6-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to make it a 47-46 ballgame with 4:13 left to play. A pair of free throws from Fajardo kicked off a 12-4 closing run for the Gaels that included a 10-for-13 mark at the foul line to seal the 59-50 victory.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Zaccagnini tallied 14 points on five made field goals to pair with three assists.
• Fajardo went 3-for-4 from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line in her 11-point final quarter.
• Barnwell finished with 11 points on four made field goals.
• Ward grabbed a team-high 12 boards to go with eight points.
• Middleton scored eight points, six rebounds and a game-high six steals.

THE OPPONENT

• Nicole Melious recorded a team-high 11 points for the Saints.
• Kaiya Rain Tucker added nine points and game-high 14 rebounds.
• Genevive Wedemeyer also finished with nine points and six rebounds.

TEAM STATS

• The Gaels shot 36.8% as a team while the Saints shot 31.0% from the field.
• Siena made four three-pointers at a 28.6% clip and Iona only made two three-pointers at 15.4%.
• The Saints won the rebounding battle 44-37.
• Iona capitalized on 17 points off 15 Siena turnovers while the Saints netted 10 points off 11 Gael turnovers.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona improves to 7-4 over the Saints in MAAC Championship play.
• Head coach Angelika Szumilo's squad recorded the eighth 20-win season in program history. The Gaels previously reach 20-wins back in 1976-77, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2022-23 seasons.
• Zaccagnini posted her 11^th double-digit scoring effort of the season.
• Fajardo tallied her 12^th game in double figures.
• Barnwell recorded her third 10-plus point performance of the year.
• Ward registered her 11^th double-digit rebounding effort.
• Middleton tied her career-high with six steals on the defensive end.

UP NEXT

A showdown with No. 1 Quinnipiac awaits the Maroon & Gold on Sunday, March 8 at noon from Boardwalk Hall.