The Iona Women’s Basketball team will continue its successful season at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Gaels (18-11 overall, 13-5 MAAC) are the number two seed. They finished five games behind Marist, the seven-time defending conference champion. Fairfield finished in third place at 11-7.

Due to their second-place finish, the Maroon & Gold received a first-round bye for the seventh time in the last eight years.

Iona will begin its quest for a MAAC title on March 8, when it takes on the winner of No. 7 Canisius and No. 10 Saint Peter’s. The Golden Griffins will advance for a matchup with the Gaels in the quarterfinals.

The Maroon & Gold swept their two meetings in the regular season. The Gaels will prevail in this third meeting also.

Marist, Fairfield and Rider will also win their quarterfinal matchups. This will pit Iona against Fairfield in one semifinal and Marist against Rider in the other.

The Gaels and the Stags split their two regular-season matchups, with the road team taking each. In this rubber match, the Maroon & Gold will exhibit their dominance. By using full-court pressure defense, the Gaels will force the Stags to turn the ball over. Fairfield will not be able to keep up with this frenetic pace. The final score will look something like 65-56 in Iona’s favor.

In the other semifinal, Marist will cruise to victory, topping Rider 76-45.

This will set up a final between the top two seeds: No. 1 Marist and No. 2 Iona. The Red Foxes went undefeated in conference play this year, amassing a record of 18-0. Seventeen of these wins were by double digits. They defeated the Gaels 69-55 on Jan. 13 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and 63-40 at Iona on Feb. 7.

Over the last nine seasons, Marist has gone at least 15-3 in the MAAC every year.

These two rivals have squared off in the MAAC Tournament many times over the past few seasons. In the four-year span from 2006-2009, they met in every MAAC Tournament (twice in the semifinals and twice in the championship game). Marist won all four games.

Given all of the history between these two familiar foes, they know each other very well. The first 15 minutes of the game will be back and forth. Late in the first half, the Red Foxes will reel off a 10-0 run to go from down two to up eight. They will lead by six at the break.

When play resumes, the two teams will remain close for much of the second half. However, as time starts to wind down, the poise and experience of Marist’s upperclassmen will prove too much for the Maroon & Gold. The Red Foxes will claim their eighth straight MAAC Championship with a 71-59 victory.

Though a defeat in the MAAC final is not what the Gaels are hoping for, they will live to see another day. Iona will be awarded a trip to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). For a team that was picked eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll, that is quite an achievement.