The new year has provided new challenges for the Iona women’s basketball team. The Gaels opened up their play by hosting Kutztown for an exhibition in the newly renovated Hynes Athletics Center.

The match-up saw contributions from much of the team’s roster, both on the offensive and defensive ends, that ultimately led to a fourth-quarter win. Success followed the Gaels into their first game on the road as they defeated Winthrop, but the momentum did not last long as they then fell into an eight-game losing streak to finish out the pre-season.

Returning home Iona took on Duquesne, where the team’s veterans fueled a fourth-quarter comeback that fell just three points short of a win.

The Gaels hit the road again two days later, first traveling to the University of Pennsylvania, falling to the Ivy-League team 42-74, and then back to New York for a hard-fought loss to Stony Brook. The team had a week to recoup before flying to San Juan to play in the 2019 Puerto Rico Clasico.

Both games of the tournament saw the Gaels struggle to make shots, being overpowered by their strong defensive opponents. After returning to the States, Iona finished its non-conference play by falling to Central Michigan, Seton Hall and Massachusetts, respectively.

Having finished tenth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last season, the Gaels were faced with an arduous task of kicking off conference play against the 2019 MAAC champion, Quinnipiac.

The team came out strong from the very start of league play, storming Quinnipiac with an early lead. In a well-fought game that saw many lead changes, the Gaels worked to start the season with a win.

The victory saw multiple players setting career highs as the team ended the Bobcats’ 52-game conference win streak. While this match-up sparked a turning point for the Gaels, inconsistency has become the story of the season thus far.

In the following series, the team faced a heavy home-court loss to Rider, 37-81, before turning around to defeat Monmouth on a last-minute, tie-breaking layup from sophomore guard Juana Camilion.

The Gaels seem to have found more success on the road, as their record holds 2-1 in MAAC away games, but 1-3 with the conference home advantage. Iona proceeded to fall to both Niagara and Fairfield before picking up its first MAAC win at the Hynes Athletics Center, beating Saint Peter’s in its largest marginal win this year.

The game saw significant contributions from much of the team’s roster on both ends of play. Most recently the Gaels fell to rival Manhattan, struggling to get on the boards the entire game. Despite this, the team has shown great potential, posting a much better record at this point this season than last. With more than half of conference play left to go, the Gaels have the opportunity to find the consistency that can help them finish out the season strong.