The Iona College women’s basketball team took a tough 78-64 loss to Fairfield at the Hynes Athletics Center this past week.

The game was very even early on, as a layup by senior forward Tomica Bacic gave Iona an early 7-6 lead before a jumper by Katie Cizynski put the Stags up and ended the Gaels’ last lead of the game.

With the game tied at 22 with 8:04 minutes remaining in the first half, two three pointers by Brittany MacFarlane and Desiree Pina opened the game up, as the Stags finished the half on a 16-4 run. A jumper by Iona freshman Damika Martinez as time expired cut the Fairfield lead to 38-26 at the half.

The Maroon & Gold came out on a mission to start the second half, bringing much needed defensive intensity to the floor, and creating offensive opportunities. A 13-7 Iona run cut the Fairfield lead to 45-42 with 15:00 minutes remaining.

From there, Fairfield responded with an 11-0 run, led by six points from Taryn Johnson. After the run, the closest the Gaels would get to the Fairfield lead was nine.

Martinez led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting with five rebounds. Fairfield shot lights out from the field at 56%, the second highest shooting percentage against the Gaels this season. Also contributing to the Stags’ success was 30 points scored in the paint.

“As we go forward, it is up to our seniors to step up,” said head coach Anthony Bozzella. “We will regroup and try to play our best basketball against a good Siena team.”

From there the team looked to bounce back on Saturday at Siena, but took a disappointing 83-59 loss, resulting in their third straight conference defeat.

An early three pointer by Martinez gave the Gaels an early 3-2 lead in what would be the lone Iona lead of the contest. A layup by Siena’s Kelsey Booth with 7:27 remaining in the first half started the Saints on a 13-1 run, pushing Siena’s lead to 36-19. A jumper by Martinez as time expired in the first half cut the Siena lead to 45-31 at the half, a half in which Siena shot 55% from the field.

In the second half, the Gaels would only be able to cut the Siena lead to 12, but Siena would capitalize on Iona’s mistakes until the final horn, scoring 20 points off 14 Iona turnovers. Siena also got to the free throw line more consistently than the Gaels, picking up 20 points at the charity stripe.

Bacic led the Gaels with 18 points and 10 rebounds, with Martinez finishing with 15 points and six boards.