The Iona College women’s basketball team (2-28, 2-16 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), who came into the 2018 season ranked third in the MAAC preseason poll, ended a rough season by falling to rival Manhattan 55-39 in the first round of the conference tournament on March 1.

Iona only had two players to score in double figures in the low-scoring game. Freshman Jayden Eggleston scored 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and four steals. Junior Alexis Lewis registered 12 points and five boards.

Junior Treyanna Clay tallied nine points. The rest of the team was only able to score two points or fewer.

Both teams were cold in the first half. Iona shot 15.4 percent from the floor in the first quarter and was only able to rack up nine points in the second. Manhattan only scored six points in the second quarter, which allowed the Gaels to take a 19-18 lead going into the second half.

The Jaspers started the second half full of momentum, knocking down three straight shots from behind the arc. Manhattan held the lead throughout the third quarter and put strong defensive pressure on Iona. The Jaspers kept Iona shooting 40 percent from the floor while scoring 12 points off of turnovers.

Manhattan used a 16-3 run to take a 53-32 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Iona had trouble holding on to the ball, committing 25 turnovers. Clay had a team-high nine turnovers while Eggleston recorded five turnovers.

It was the first time Iona lost in the first round of the MAAC Tournament since 2015.

Freshman Toyosi Abiola, who had seven minutes of playing time, scored two points.

Abiola was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year after being Iona’s go- to scorer throughout the season.

Abiola won the MAAC Rookie of the Week award four straight weeks (nine total). Abiola averaged 11.9 points per game and recorded over 1,000 minutes, the most of any other freshman in the conference and Metropolitan area, this season.

In addition to Abiola winning Rookie of the Year, Iona had four players named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. Senior Kristin Mahoney, Lewis, Sophomores Tori Lesko and Amelia Motz were recognized for their accomplishments in the classroom.

It wasn’t a season Iona wanted nor expected, but the Gaels’ underclassmen gained much needed experience that will help them in the future.

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