Gaels fall to Jacksonville, 71-62

Iona and Jacksonville registered a combine 25 turnovers.

Ryan McFadden Sports Editor

Iona College women’s basketball junior Treyanna Clay’s career performance wasn’t good enough to lift the Gaels over Jacksonville University on Monday evening.

Clay tallied 20 points and four rebounds as Iona dropped its second game of the season to the Dolphins 71-62.

Freshman guard Toyosi Abiola, who was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week, had another impressive outing, scoring 18 points on 5-12 shooting. Junior Alexis Lewis tallied 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

 The Gaels trailed 34-21 going into halftime and was down by 22 in the middle of the third quarter. Iona managed to outscore Jacksonville 43-37 in the second half deficit.

 Jacksonville had three players score in double figures. Naqaiyyah Teague tallied a team-high 16 points and eight boards. Jasmyn Brown scored 13 points and four rebounds in the victory. The Dolphins shot 44 percent from the floor while Iona was 36 percent.

 Jacksonville took advantage of the Gaels on the boards, outrebounding them 46-30. The Dolphins were a force down low as they tallied 36 points in the paint compared to Iona’s 26 points.

 Jacksonville received 20 points from the bench and registered 17 second chance points. Iona and Jacksonville had a hard time controlling the ball as both teams tallied 25 turnovers each. Abiola committed seven turnovers while Clay and sophomore Tori Lesko had five turnovers each. Teague and Jacksonville’s Brandi Buie recorded a combined 18 turnovers.

 Iona’s next game will be at home against Temple University on Nov. 19. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off and can be watched on ESPN3.