Getting Back on Track (Recap of Loyola - Iona Women's Basketball Game)

When this season started, Coach Tony Bozzella and the Iona Gaels women's team played their usual strong non conference schedule. They started out winning three of their first four games with their only loss to Big East member Villanova in the championship game of the Iona Invitational.  Then they lost six of their next seven games out of conference, including a loss at nationally ranked Rutgers.

In that game against the Scarlet Knights, Iona's best player, Kristina Ford, went down with a knee injury.  Things looked bleak for the Gaels, as Ford was going to be out for a significant period of time.  They lost their next game, a close 62-58 game at Fairfield, who is currently second in the MAAC.  

But after that loss to the Stags, the Gaels found themselves.  Thanks to freshmen Aleesha Powell and Damika Martinez, who might just be one of the top freshmen players in the country, Iona would win six of their next seven games.   I was at the game against Manhattan at the Hynes Center, where the Gaels were down 22-11 early.  Using a full court press, they rallied and defeated the Jaspers 65-60.  It seemed like that Iona had banded together to makeup for the loss of Ford, a preseason All First Team MAAC player.

Ford actually came back in time for their wins over Saint Peter's and Canisius, another game that I was in attendance for at the Hynes Center.  In that game, the Gaels were up by twenty, 59-39, before the Golden Griffs started hitting long range threes to cut the lead to six before Iona eventually won 77-67.  After that game, the Gaels were in third in the MAAC with a 6-2 record in conference.  Things were looking up for them.

Then came the big weekend for Iona as they had home contests vs. Marist and Fairfield, the top two teams in the conference.   The Gaels came out strong and held their own early on against the Red Foxes.  The score was 13-12 Marist after eight minutes.  But the Red Foxes went on a 13-0 run over a four minute span and went up 26-12 on the Gaels.  Iona played Marist even the rest of the way but couldn't get closer than eight the rest of the way, losing 72-61.

It was the start of a seven game losing streak for the Gaels.  They played the Stags very close for twenty five minutes, as they were only down three, 45-42 with fifteen minutes left in the game.  But Fairfield went on to win 78-64.   The games that followed were for the most part close losses.  They had large second half leads at Loyola Maryland and at Rider, but both games slipped away from them.  

Heading into the game vs. Loyola, Iona was now 6-9 in conference and in danger of having to play the first day of the MAAC Tournament.   That's a death sentence for any team; the Gaels would have to play four games in four days to have a chance to win the MAAC championship.  Knowing my CAA Tournament history from the past ten years, it's basically a no-win scenario for Iona.

With that scenario in the backdrop, the Gaels needed to end their losing streak yesterday vs. the Greyhounds.  Loyola entered the game in third place in the MAAC with a 9-6 conference record.  They were looking to clinch a first round bye in the MAAC tournament with a win. 

I guess due to the magnitude of the game for both teams,  Iona and Loyola struggled offensively out of the gate.   After ten minutes, the score was tied at six.   Finally, the teams started hitting their shots.  The Greyhounds took a 15-12 lead on two consecutive baskets by Miriam McKenzie, who had nineteen points on the day.

But the Gaels would respond with a 15-4 run to end the half.   Ford and Powell would combine for eleven of the fifteen points.  Iona would go to the half with a 27-19 lead, their first lead at the half at home since their win over Canisius.

I had an unique honor at halftime.  When I got to the Hynes Center, I received a text from Nick Guerriero, the play by play announcer for the Iona women's team.  Nick asked me if I wanted to be the halftime interview.  I gladly said yes.  Nick asked some terrific questions about the 800 Games Project that I am a part of at MidMajority.Com, BracketBusters, the CAA, Iona, the NEC, women's basketball (I talked about seeing Elena Delle Donne vs. Hofstra Thursday night) and New York City Metro Area basketball.   It was my first ever radio interview on hoops and it was a lot of fun.  Thank you, Nick!

The second half started with Iona and Loyola trading baskets and the Gaels up 31-24.  Then Martinez buried a three to start a thirteen point Iona run.  She would score nine straight points for the Gaels.  The score was now 44-24 with a little less than fifteen minutes left.   

But basketball will always be a game of runs. So while I took my younger son Jonathan to the restroom,  the Greyhounds responded with a 17-7 run.   As I entered back into the gym,  Loyola was only down ten, 51-41 with a little less than nine minutes left.

Iona kept the lead in double digits for the most part and with about ninety seconds left, they were up 64-52.  But the Greyhounds forced a few turnovers and outscored the Gaels 8-2 to cut the lead to 66-60 with forty three seconds left.  But Iona hit their last eight free throws (including the two points in Loyola's mini run) to win the game 72-65. 

It was a balanced attack for Iona.  Martinez had seventeen points, nine of which came from the foul line.  Powell had sixteen points and Bacic had twelve points.  But Ford perhaps had the most impressive game for the Gaels with fourteen points and eleven rebounds.  She was very aggressive driving to the hole during the game, which I hadn't seen since prior to her knee injury.  Iona also had a terrific day at the charity stripe, hitting twenty of their twenty three free throw attempts.

As my older son Matthew finally got his wish to play on the Hynes Center court, the Gaels finally had broken their losing streak.  Now they can end the regular season on a high note.  Their next game won't be easy by any means, as they face Marist, the six time defending MAAC champion up in Poughkeepsie. I know how loud it can be at the McCann Center.  Then they finish the season at home hosting Saint Peter's.   Their season has been a stretch of streaks, both winning and losing streaks.  Perhaps there's one more winning streak to be started.

Lady Gaels Rally Late to Down Seawolves

The mark of a good team is how it bounces back from a loss.  After watching Iona lose to Villanova in the championship game of the Iona Tip-Off Classic last Saturday, the Lady Gaels won their next game at Bryant on Tuesday by thirteen points, 66-53.  Last night in New Rochelle, the Iona Women's Basketball Team looked to continue their winning ways as they hosted Stony Brook.

The game started with a brief moment of silence in respect to the tragic passing of Oklahoma State coaches Kirk Budke and Miranda Serna due to a plane crash (you need to read Mechelle Voepel's wonderful article about Budke).  Then the Lady Gaels won the opening tip and immediately scored the first basket on a layup by Danika Martinez.  But it would be the only one of two baskets Iona would score for sixteen and half minutes. The Lady Gaels would commit six of their eleven first half turnovers in the first six minutes and proceed to shoot 3 of 21 in the first half.

A lot of the credit for Iona's first half struggles has to go to Stony Brook who came out and played a stifling defense.  Seawolves first year head coach Beth O'Boyle was the former associate head coach at Canisius. From MAAC conference play, she knows the Lady Gaels' offensive sets quite well.   Stony Brook disrupted Iona's handoff offense and the Lady Gaels struggled to get off shots in the first half (21 shot attempts compared to the Seawolves 31 shot attempts). Stony Brook also controlled the boards in the first half (the Seawolves outrebounded the Lady Gaels 45-37 on the night) and had numerous second chance opportunities.

Fortunately for Iona, Stony Brook was also having their own offensive struggles, shooting 6 of 31 in the first half.  The result was the unseemly score of 17-7 at halftime.  It just happened to be the same score of last night's Oklahoma State - Iowa State football game at the half.  It turns out both games would end in a similar fashion.



During halftime, Iona tried to have their dance team perform a routine.  But the dance team's performance was delayed due to problems with their music on the sound system.  It was once again a reminder that perhaps Iona should have their solid pep band play at the women's games as well.

The second half was a complete antithesis of the first half.  Both teams came out scoring as the Lady Gaels' press sped up the game's tempo.  Stony Brook and Iona scored as many points in the first eight minutes as they had scored in the entire first half.   The Seawolves extended their lead to as much as fourteen, 32-18 on a Whitney Davis jumper with 11:30 left in the game.  The Lady Gaels couldn't seem to really cut into the Seawolves lead.  Then with the score 34-23, my friend Mal finally showed up for the game. He apparently brought Iona some luck with him.

Even though Iona was still down eleven, the pace favored the Lady Gaels. Their press was starting tire the Seawolves.  On the offensive end, Iona  showed much more patience.  They only had four turnovers and shot over 48 percent from the field in the second half.  And the Lady Gaels' best player, one of their senior captains, was going to lead the way.

For the entire first half,  Iona's Kristina Ford struggled.  She scored just three points on 1 of 7  shooting and three turnovers in the first twenty minutes.  But in the second half, Ford channeled her inner Charles Jenkins and just went off on Stony Brook.  She scored seven of Iona's first eleven points in eight and a half minutes.  Then with the score 34-27, Ford went on another run of her own.  In the span of nearly six minutes, Ford would score twelve points and dish out three assists.   She scored her last points of the span calmly burying a three to tie the game at 45 with 1:42 left.  The crowd went nuts as Coach Tony Bozzella decided to call a 30 second timeout to set up his defense.

After Stony Brook missed on their next attempt, Ford continued her impression of Sir Charles.  She neatly fed Aleesha Powell for an open three and Powell buried it to put the Lady Gaels up 48-45 with 57 seconds left.  It was their first lead in thirty eight minutes.  But the Seawolves Dani Klupenger downed another big three, her third of the game, and the game was tied with 33 seconds left.

Here's where an interesting decision was made that I believe may have had an effect on the outcome of the game.  O'Boyle called a thirty second timeout, the last timeout Stony Brook had in regulation.  She subbed out her leading scorer Klupenger, who had fourteen points, for Jessica Previlon, apparently for defensive purposes.

Iona inbounded the ball and everyone knew who was going to get the ball.  Ford.  The question is could Stony Brook deny her the chance to get it.  But the Lady Gaels' senior point guard Suzi Fregosi was able to drive the lane and find Ford on a backdoor play.  Ford got her last two points of the game on a layup and the Lady Gaels were back up two, 50-48 with ten seconds left.

After assistant Ashlee Kelly wisely noted that the Lady Gaels had two fouls to give, Bozzella called timeout to have his players use those fouls to disrupt the Seawolves' offense.  But O' Boyle never inserted Klupenger back in the game. After Iona fouled Stony Brook twice, there was five seconds left.  Klupenger was still sitting on the sidelines while the Seawolves had one last play to run to either tie or win the game.

Iona starting guard Tomica Bacic really struggled for the first twenty minutes.   She was 0 for 2 from the field and missed two free throws.  She sat on the bench for nearly ten minutes before being reinserted late in the first half.  In the second half, Bacic contributed, scoring all eight of her points in the last twenty minutes. But she was about to give her biggest contribution of the game.

After Iona's sixth foul of the second half, Stony Brook got the ball in Previlon's hands.  She drove the lane and was going for a game tying layup.  But Bacic stood her ground in the lane and took the charge as Previlon barreled into her.  Previlon was called for an offensive foul and the Lady Gaels got the ball back.   Suzi Fregosi was then fouled and calmly sank two free throws to put Iona up by four with one second left.  Klupenger was subbed back into the game, but it was too late.  Iona completed their second half comeback, winning 52-48. With the win, the Lady Gaels improved to 3-1 on the season.

As the finally fixed sound system played "Back in the New York Groove", it was appropo for the second half.   Down fourteen with eleven and a half minutes left, Iona faced serious adversity.  But the Lady Gaels found their groove and outscored the Seawolves 34-16 over the last eight and half minutes of the game

Overcoming adversity is another mark of a good team.