The Iona Women’s Basketball Team had one of their best wins of the season on Jan. 28 when they defeated the Siena Saints 55-50 in overtime in Loudonville, N.Y.

 

The Gaels struggled to score for the majority of the game, with just a 27 field goal percentage, but their defense kept them in the game and was the reason why they were able to pull out their fourth conference win of the year and their third straight win.

 

The Gaels were down 32-23 at halftime and Siena came out shooting well in the second half. It didn’t look promising for Iona being down 10 points with just nine minutes to go. But that was when Iona really locked down defensively.

 

Sienaonly scored four points in 14 minutes, missing 16 of their last 17 shots. Junior Kristina Ford drilled the game-tying three-pointer with 20.7 seconds left to bring the score to 50-50. Iona kept Siena off the scoreboard in the overtime and earned a very hard-fought win. “I was incredibly impressed by the toughness that we showed all game,” said Head Coach Anthony Bozzella. “It was the first time all year that we showed everyone what Iona Women’s Basketball toughness is.”

 

Ford earned a double-double by scoring 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. Senior Andja Ivkovic also had a double-double by producing 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Marissa Flagg led the team in assists with four. Even though the Gaels did not shoot well from the field they were able to get a lot of production from the free throw line. They shot 12-13, good enough for 92 percent from the charity stripe.

 

The Gaels brought all of the momentum that they had from the big win at Siena to the Hynes Athletic Center when they played the Saint Peters Peahens on Jan. 30.

 

The Gaels pulled out a 65-55 win over the Peahens, improving to 9-13 on the year and 5-5 in conference play. Ford led the team in points with 20, while also contributing 6 rebounds. Ivkovic recorded her second double-double in a row by producing 17 points and 11 rebounds.

 

Junior Jessica Scannell was the Gaels’ spark plug against St. Peters. Scannell came off the bench and contributed 4 points, a team high 5 assists, and 3 key steals to give the Gaels momentum at home. The bench production from the Gaels has also been key during this four game win streak. “I’m very proud with the way our bench has played, they have really stepped it up,” Bozzella said.

 

The Gaels took their four-game win streak into the Hynes Athletic Center on Feb. 4 against the Fairfield Stags. It was a hard fought game and it couldn’t be decided in regulation as the Gaels played their second overtime game in three games.

 

Unfortunately, they came up a little short, losing 67-63, snapping their four-game win streak. Ivkovic recorded her third straight double-double by producing 20 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Tomica Bacic also played well scoring 15 points and snagging 8 rebounds.

 

 The Gaels’ next home game is tomorrow against the Marist Red Foxes, which will be televised on ESPNU. The Gaels 9-14 is good enough for sixth place in the MAAC.