Brown’s career-high 33 points leads Siena women’s basketball to sixth straight victory
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A native of just outside of Philadelphia, Siena Women's Basketball's Anajah Brown must like being in the vicinity of large cities. A career night from the junior led the Saints (12-8, 9-3) to their sixth straight victory in the form of a definitive 74-57 win at Iona (7-14, 2-10) Thursday evening at the Hynes Athletics Center in New Rochelle, New York, securing a season sweep over the Gaels for the first time in five years.
After scoring in single-digits each of the last two games, Brown exploded for 33 points to log one of only 15 single-game scoring performances of 33 or more in program history, including the first since 2017 and just the fourth in this millennium. The tally also marked the second 30-point performance by a Saint this season and the third-most points by a player in the MAAC this year.
The mark helped the Saints compile their first six-game win streak since the 2016-17 campaign and the first 9-3 start to conference play since the previous year. Siena has now gone over 70 points in seven straight games for the first time since its banner 2000-01 season, and has also recorded over 40 points in the second half in seven straight games, as well as 40 percent or better from the field in the last nine.
En-route to securing their first sweep over a conference opponent this season, the Green and Gold scored the first eight points of the game and jumped out to a 16-9 lead after a quarter of play by way of four different scorers. Iona's Sierra DeAngelo netted 11 of the Gaels' first 13 points and had 15 at the half, but was unable to make up for a barrage of Iona turnovers forced by the visitors.
After holding a seven-point halftime lead, the Saints opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run and continued to roll thanks to 15 points in the period from Brown – who became the second Saint in as many games to score 15 points in a single quarter after Teresa Seppala did so in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's win at Marist.
Siena held as much as a 21-point lead in the fourth quarters to hand the Gaels their sixth straight loss and their fourth straight at home. In addition to Brown's double-double of 33 points and ten boards, Sophomore Elisa Mevius continued to produce all over the stat sheet with a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists, marking her first such feat and the program's second in as many seasons after having not done so previously since 2004. The Saints also featured multiple players with a double-double in a game for the first time in just over a year.
Mevius also added six steals to her nationally-recognized total to bring her to 87 on the season through 20 games, good for the fifth-most all-time in single-season history and just 12 away from breaking the single-season record.
Siena shot 43.1 percent from the field and won its second straight game despite being outshot by its opponent. The Saints held a definitive 42-27 advantage in rebounds, tallied 27 points off 23 Iona turnovers, and recorded 48 points in the paint.
DeAngelo led the way for the Gaels – who shot 46.9 percent from the floor – with 17 points.
Now in search of its longest win streak since collecting ten straight victories during the 2002-03 season and its first 10-3 start to MAAC play since that same year, Siena will return home for its only contest at the UHY Center over a three-week span. The Saints will look for their first-ever home win and first-ever sweep of Quinnipiac on Saturday, February 10 at 2 PM. Saturday's contest will celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day and there will be postgame autographs following the conclusion of the game.