For the first time in five years, the Iona women’s basketball team defeated a team from a major conference. On Nov. 8, the Gaels defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats, of the Pacific 12 (Pac-12) Conference 82-75, in an overtime thriller.

Iona (1-1) jumped on top early, building an 8-2 lead. Arizona came charging back and captured a four-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the opening period. The Gaels responded with a 13-2 run to claim a 33-26 advantage. The halftime score was 35-30, in favor of the Maroon & Gold.

In the first 20 minutes of play, junior guard Damika Martinez, senior center Sabrina Jeridore and sophomore forward Joy Adams combined for 32 of the Gaels’ 35 points. Martinez led the way with 16. Iona extended its lead to eight in the early minutes of the second half. Then the Gaels’ offense went cold; the Wildcats mounted a charge and outscored the Maroon & Gold 20-2 over an eight minute stretch. Iona went nearly nine minutes without a field goal. A 3-pointer by junior guard Aleesha Powell ended the Gaels’ drought and narrowed the gap to five with just under five minutes to play in regulation.

The Maroon & Gold pulled within one with just over three minutes left. With 19 seconds left in regulation, Arizona extended its lead to three on a pair of free throws. On the ensuing possession, Martinez knotted the game at 68 with a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to force overtime.

“I was just like ‘This has got to go in. This is the one,’” Martinez said on hitting the game-tying shot.

Martinez scored the first five points of the extra period, and Iona never relinquished the lead after that point. They built the lead up to 10, and the final margin of victory was seven (82-75).

This win is head coach Billi Godsey’s first career victory.

“It’s awesome; it’s a great feeling,” Godsey said. “The girls played really hard. [Beating Arizona], I’d like to say it’s big. They’re a good team. Arizona’s a well-coached team, and they have some good players.”

In the game, Iona made 20 of its 24 free throw attempts. Martinez netted 35 points, one shy of her career high. Adams posted a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jeridore tied a career-high with 12 points and tallied eight boards. Redshirt senior guard Haley D’Angelo amassed a career-high nine assists.

“[My teammates are] helping me out,” D’Angelo said, regarding her nine assists. “They make it easy for me. I find them in the open court, they hit their shots, and so it’s a lot of fun playing with them.”

This game was part of the first round of the Iona Tip-Off Tournament. In the other first round game, Bowling Green topped the University of Michigan 63-52. This pitted Arizona against Michigan and Bowling Green vs. Iona the following day. Michigan edged Arizona 73-71 in overtime.

In Iona’s tilt with Bowling Green, the two teams matched each other to 19 over the course of the first 14 minutes of play. The Falcons then reeled off eight straight points. The score at the break was Bowling Green 30, Iona 23.

In the opening half, Martinez, with 11 points, was the only player from either team in double figures.

Coming out of the intermission, the Gaels scored the first five points to pull within two. The Falcons’ lead fluctuated between two and six for much of the period, until a 3-pointer by Iona sophomore guard Aaliyah Robinson closed the deficit to one with 2:39 remaining. Martinez gave the Maroon & Gold their first lead (48-47) since the 6:30 mark of the first half.

After trading baskets, Bowling Green senior point guard Jillian Halfhill gave the Falcons a 51-50 lead with 18 seconds left on the clock. Out of an Iona timeout, Martinez got the inbounds pass and drove the lane. She was met by three Falcon defenders and forced up a contested shot. It hit the rim, and the rebound fell into the hands of Halfhill, securing the one-point win for Bowling Green.

“Bowling Green’s a very good team; they’re very talented; they run great sets; they’re very disciplined in the way that they play,” Godsey said. “It should burn a little bit that we didn’t do what we wanted to do as a team, but if we came into it playing our game, we probably could have come out on top. A one-point loss to a very well-coached team, a very disciplined team is not the end of the world, but we could have done so many things differently.”

The Gaels attempted only two free throws the entire game. Martinez led all scorers with 25 points. Robinson notched a career-high four 3-pointers and posted 14 points. Jeridore chipped in with six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

On Nov. 12, Iona was scheduled to play at St. John’s. The result of the game was not available at press time. The Gaels will be back in action on Nov. 15 when they host Pacific at 7 p.m. at the Hynes Athletics Center.