ALBANY, NY – The fourth-seeded Iona College women’s basketball team fell to fifth seeded Siena 71-61 in the quarterfinals of the 2015 MAAC Championship Friday afternoon at the Times Union Center.
Senior guard Damika Martinez was one of four players in double figures for the Gaels, scoring 12 points. Martinez completes her stellar career with 2,581 career points, first in league history, and 44th all-time on the NCAA Division I scoring ledger.
Junior forward Joy Adams scored a team-high 13 points, while freshman guard Philecia Gilmore scored 12 points and junior guard Aaliyah Robinson tallied 10 points.
The Gaels shot 38.6% from the field in the game, and connected on eight three-pointers on a season-high matching 31 attempts (28.6%).
Siena scored 14 of the game’s first 16 points, and took a 12 point advantage on a three by Margot Hetzke with 14:45 left in the first half.
Iona countered with a 23-12 run over the next 10 minutes, and took its first lead since the opening minute of the contest, 25-24, on a layup by junior forward Karynda DuPree with 3:07 remaining in the frame. The Gaels scored four more points down the stretch and held a 29-25 edge at halftime.
The second half of action included four ties and seven lead changes. Iona grabbed its biggest lead of the game 34-27 on a pair of free throws by Martinez with 18:45 remaining. After a 9-2 run by the Saints evened the score, the Maroon & Gold scored five in a row to take a 41-36 advantage with 14:58 left.
Siena answered with an 11-0 run, taking a six point lead, 47-41, with 10:33 remaining. Gilmore answered with back-to-back three that tied the contest at 47.
After a three by Robinson gave Iona a 57-56 lead with 3:48 left, Siena retook the lead on a layup by Meghan Donohue and never trailed for the remainder of the game.
The Saints clinched the game with a 9-for-10 effort from the charity stripe over the final 64 seconds of play and scoring 11 straight points.
Siena held a 34-24 advantage on points in the paint, and 15-6 on second chance points. Hetzke scored a game-high 20 points for the Saints, while senior Tehresa Coles scored 17 points.
The Gaels complete the 2014-15 campaign with an even mark of 15-15.
