Siena women march out of the Mount with a win
EMMITSBURG, MD (NEWS10) -- The longest road trip of the 2023-24 season kicked off on a high note for Siena Women’s Basketball, getting the team to its first conference win and first-ever win against a new league foe Monday evening. The Saints (4-5, 1-1) defeated MAAC foe Mount St. Mary’s (3-6, 0-2), 61-55, to collect the program’s first win over the Mountaineers and the first win in the state of Maryland since 2015.
After dropping a narrow MAAC-opening contest at home to Canisius just over 48 hours ago, the Green and Gold began a 1,573-mile round trip affair by holding a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, which included an early nine-point advantage.
Playing in front of friends and family, freshman and Northern Virginia native Alden Yergey recorded six first-half points, while senior Ahniysha Jackson found scoring inside the perimeter for seven points at the intermission, in which Siena led, 26-20.
Sophomore London Gamble opened the second half with a three-pointer en route to finishing a perfect 5-5 from the field to begin what was a back-and-forth period for both teams. A pair of early retaliatory threes from The Mount allowed Isabella Hunt hit a jumper that brought the home team within two, 34-32, with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter, but the Saints fired back with a 7-0 run that included a three-pointer from freshman Ciany Conyers, who went for a collegiate-best five points in 19 minutes.
Eventual Mount St. Mary’s leading scorer Jo Raflo knotted the game at 41 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, but the visitors took hold of momentum with a 6-2 run for a four-point lead with 6:29 remaining. Again leading by just a point, Siena found four straight points from sophomore Teresa Seppala to go back up five with four minutes later and used a late Jackson three-pointer with 1:46 left to seal the deal.
Siena improved to 2-0 this season when holding an opponent under 60 points and used 17 Mount St. Mary’s turnovers to produce 14 points. Jackson went for 16 to lead Siena, while Gamble added 12 and Seppala recorded double-digit boards (11) for the second straight contest. Raflo led The Mount with 18 points, while Jada Lee added 12.
After collecting the program’s 16th win this calendar year, Siena will end 2023 with a trip west to face Big 12 opponent Cincinnati, with tip-off on Thursday, December 21 at Fifth-Third Bank Arena set for 1 PM.