Mid Major Hoops

Iona Lady Gaels Stun West Virginia on Mountaineers' Home Court

I was due for a Lady Gaels posting and it's a very nice way for it to happen too.  The Lady Gaels, coached by my friend Tony Bozzella, did something a MAAC team, outside of Marist, rarely does.  They beat a Big East team.  But not only did Iona beat West Virginia 54-42, they did so by beating the Mountaineers on their home court.

Now, granted the Mountaineers, who made the second round of the NCAA tournament last season, graduated seven seniors and eleven players overall did not return from last season's team.  However, West Virginia had a top recruiting class come in with JUCO all americans and other top freshmen.  Also, the Mountaineers stormed out to a 15-4 lead.  The Lady Gaels came back with an 18-7 run.  The Lady Gaels jumped ahead early in the second half and never trailed again, finishing the game on a 22-8 run.  They were led by freshman Kristina Ford who had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Anda Ivkovic added 13 points as the Lady Gaels held the Mountaineers to 28 percent shooting from the field.

The Lady Gaels are now 2-0 on the season having defeated Hofstra 61-57 at home last Friday evening.  Thazina Cook had 20 points and Ford chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds as Iona avenged a loss from last season's opening game against the Pride.

Iona was picked sixth again in the MAAC in this season preseason poll.  Last season Iona was also picked sixth in the preseason but finished second to Marist and went to the tournament finals before losing to Marist.  This season's prediction is probably based mainly on the loss of three players, two to graduation and one, Anna McClean due to medical reasons.  Had McClain, a dominant force inside, returned, the Lady Gaels would be ranked much higher.   However, with this 2-0 start, it seems the MAAC prognosticators may have got it wrong again. 

The Lady Gaels continue their four game road trip with a game at Monmouth Wednesday before a big game Sunday at Wichita State.  The road trip concludes with a game Thanksgiving Eve at St. Francis. The Lady Gaels then hold their Thanksgiving Tournament November 29-30, which I hope to be attending at least one of the games.

Lady Gaels Win First Ever Postseason Game

My friends and I were at Iona, where my friend, Tony Bozzella, was coaching Iona in their first ever-postseason game, a Women’s NIT first round game against LIU Brooklyn, his former team, the regular season NEC champion.   It was an emotional game for Coach Bozzella, who wanted to win this game very badly for his own reasons. 

It was a very entertaining though intense first half, as both teams shot the lights out as Iona went out to a 46-41 halftime lead despite LIU Brooklyn shooting 78 percent from the field, including 6 of 6 from the three point arc.  Iona shot 58 percent from the field from the first half due to 11 more attempts as the taller Gaels outrebounded the Blackbirds 34-21 in the game.  MAAC Player of the Year, Martina Weber had 16 first half points for the Gaels.  At the start of the second half, Coach Bozzella glanced up at us in the crowd, rolled his eyes and gave a deep sigh, as if he knew what was about to happen. 

The Blackbirds proceeded to start the second half on a 11-0 run as NEC Freshman of the Year Valerie Nainima came out on fire as LIU went up 52-46, then extended the lead to 68-56 with 10:57 left as the Blackbirds hit their first three point shots (which made it 9 for 9 at the time for them).   Then Tiara Headen, who scored all 15 of her points in the second half, and Weber led the Gaels back, as Coach Bozzella switched to a press that wore the smaller Blackbirds down.  The Gaels tied it at 73 with 5:47 left on a Thazina Cook layup. 

Then, the most critical play in the game occurred.  As LIU’s Mikaelar Whippy went in for a layup, she made contact with Martina Weber and a foul was called.  It seemed Weber did not have position and had committed a blocking foul, which would have been her fourth foul.  However the referee called it an offensive foul and Iona gained possession.  The Gaels would take the lead 75-73 on a layup by Weber but the Blackbirds would regain the lead on Nainima’s last three pointer of the game.  The Gaels would then go on a 11-1 run to end the game, winning 91-79 and Iona had its first ever postseason in their first postseason game. 

Weber led the Gaels with 27 points including 11 of 12 from the line.  Headen had her 15 second half points on 6 of 8 shooting, while Lauren DeFalco and Toni Horvath added 14 and 13 points respectively.  Nainima had 30 points to lead all scorers on 10 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 6 from the three point arc (the Blackbirds ended 10-14 from three).  With the win, the Gaels travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana on Sunday.

Marist Edges Iona, Ending Lady Gaels Season

Marist denied Iona a last possession opportunity and held onto to defeat the Lady Gaels 60-59.  With 26 seconds left, Iona stopped the Red Foxes and had a chance to win the game.  But the Red Foxes stifling defense kept the Lady Gaels to a desperation three point attempt by Toni Horvath, which missed at the buzzer.  Iona stayed in the game despite two of their starters fouling out.  In fact, Iona season leading scorer Martina Weber only played 11 minutes before fouling out and starting forward Jessica Anger fouled out only playing 24 minutes.

Despite the two starters fouling out, the fourth seeded Lady Gaels valliantly fought the #1 seeded  Red Foxes down to the wire, in fact the Lady Gaels led 55-54 with 4:08 left but the Red Foxes got a three pointer to go up 57-55 and never trailed the rest of the way. 

Iona was led by Tiara Headen who had 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Anger and Horvath each had 10.  Weber had 7 points in those 11 minutes.  Iona finishes the season 17-12, their best record in 25 years.

Lady Gaels Late Run Downs Niagara

Iona used a game ending 21-4 run to come from behind to defeat Niagara 72-57.  Martina Weber, Tiara Headen, and Melissa Yeagley combined for 41 points.  Jessica Anger added 11 rebounds while Anna McClean came off the bench to add 10 points and 8 rebounds.   The Lady Gaels will play #1 seed Marist tomorrow at noon.

Iona Lady Gaels Get MAAC Awards

Junior forward Martina Weber was named First team All MAAC, while sophomore Tiara Headen was named Second team All MAAC and guard Toni Horvath was named Third Team All MAAC.  Its the first time in school history that Iona had three players with All MAAC honors.  Iona plays its first MAAC tournament game against the winner of St Peter's/Niagara Friday at 9:15 AM.  No, that's not a misprint.  You can have breakfast with the MAAC Friday morning at 9:15 AM. 

Lady Gaels Finish Regular Season With Win

Senior Melissa Yeagley had 16 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Iona Lady Gaels to a 74-64 win over Manhattan.  Iona shot 56 percent from the field, 8 of 17 from the three point arc, and were 22 of 28 from the free throw line.  The Lady Gaels finished the season 13-5 in the MAAC and 16-11 overall, both records for the Iona women's program.  Iona receives a first round bye in the MAAC tournament and will play the winner of St Peter's/Niagara next Friday. 

Lady Gaels on MSG This Sunday and Continue to Roll with Win over Rider

Lost in the shuffle of the big Hofstra win over #25 George Mason was the Iona Lady Gaels winning their 15th game of the season, a 64-53 win over Rider.  The Lady Gaels led by as many as 18 and led 36-20 at halftime.  After shooting 50 percent in the first half, the Lady Gaels went completely frigid, shooting 24 percent in the second half.   Rider cut the lead down to 55-50 with under six minutes left before the Lady Gaels ended the game on a 9-3 run. 

Tiara Headen led the Gaels and all scorers with 16 points and added 9 rebounds.  Jessica Anger had 12 points and 9 rebounds while Lauren DeFalco added 10 points for the Lady Gaels.  The Lady Gaels were without leading scorer Martina Weber who was given the night off to rest a foot injury.  Weber will be certainly ready to play for the MAAC conference tournament.  Iona is now 12-5 in the MAAC, 15-11 overall.  The Lady Gaels can finish third in the conference with a win on Sunday and a Loyola loss at Fairfield.

The Lady Gaels will be on MSG this Sunday, February 26 as part of a doubleheader with the Iona men's team.  The Lady Gaels will face Manhattan at 4:00 PM.   The game is followed by the game that will decide first place in the men's MAAC, when Jeff Ruland's squad faces Bobby Gonzalez' squad.

Iona Clinches Bye on Senior Day

The Iona Lady Gaels clinched a first round bye in the MAAC tournament as Martina Weber scored a career high 28 points to lead the Lady Gaels to a 83-69 win over Siena.   The final score was not indicative of how close the game was for the most part.   Siena led by as many as nine in the first half, 24-15 before Iona went on a 21-6 run to go up 36-30 at the half.   

Siena though scored the first seven points of the half and took a 37-36 lead.   Iona regained the lead but Siena stayed close 55-53 with 8:14 left.  That's when Iona went on a 9-2 run to lead 64-55 with 5:41 left and Siena never recovered.

As when the teams met the first time, Iona used its significant height advantage by working the ball into Weber, Jessica Anger, and Anna McClean in the paint in the second half.  Tiara Headen had 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Lady Gaels, while McClean had 10 points and 7 rebounds and Anger added 8 points.  In her final home game, Iona's lone senior, Melissa Yeagley totaled three points, two rebounds, and a career-high six assists.   The Lady Gaels outrebounded Siena 42-31 and shot 49 percent from the field for the game, including 55 percent in the second half.  The Lady Gaels also limited Siena to 39.6 percent from the field.

Iona is now 11-5 in conference tied with Loyola for third place in the MAAC conference, however Loyola has the tie breaker, having won both games against the Lady Gaels. Iona is also now 14-11 overall.  Iona has also now tied the school record for wins in a season as a Division I program with 14  and has guaranteed itself its best finish ever in the MAAC. 

If coach Tony Bozzella does not get MAAC coach of the year for taking a preseason ranked #9 team to its best MAAC conference record in school history and a first round bye, there ought to be an investigation.

Iona finishes the regular season at Rider on Friday, then finishes with a televised road game at Manhattan next Sunday on MSG.  Its part of the Manhattan-Iona men's women's doubleheader with the men's first game possibly deciding who gets the first seed and double bye in the MAAC tournament. 

Lady Gaels Game Rescheduled for Tomorrow, Plus Other Notes

The Iona Lady Gaels game against Niagara has been rescheduled to 2 pm tomorrow, Monday, February 13.  Iona will be looking for its tenth win in conference, which would be a school record.

In my posting on the Lady Gaels' win on Friday, I didn't get a chance to point out the contributions of Regan Pettijohn, Toni Horvath, Lauren Huber and Anna McClean in the game.  Pettijohn got the start with Martina Weber out and she had a fine game with 12 points on five of eight shooting.  Horvath also added 12 points and six assists.  The key though was getting quality minutes from the bench.  Huber, had eight points in 15 minutes of action and McClean was dominant on the boards with nine rebounds in 18 minutes of action. 

I was listening to the Siena radio internet feed and the Siena broadcasters were so impressed with the size of Iona's team and their bench, frequently crediting Huber and McClean for their play.   The best comment they gave was that they couldn't believe that in the preseason poll Iona was picked ninth.   Give credit to Tony Bozzella, his coaching staff, but especially his players for playing way beyond the conference's expectations of his team.  There's still more work to be done for the Lady Gaels.  They have a legitimate chance to win four, possibly all five of their remaining games (they play conference leader Marist on Friday at home).  Barring a complete breakdown, the Lady Gaels will finish in the top four of the conference and get a first round bye.

Iona Lady Gaels Game Canceled Today

The Iona Lady Gaels game was canceled today due to the snowstorm.  The game will be rescheduled for a later date in the season.   Also, I have it on good authority that the Lady Gaels leading scorer, Das Wunderkind Martina Weber will be out two weeks with an achilles problem.  She has been fitted with a special boot.  Iona's next two games are at home (would have been three if the game with Niagara was not canceled), so with their depth and home court advantage, Weber's loss, will not be as bad.  Iona proved this by winning at Siena, always a tough place to play without Weber.  Tiara Headen has picked up the slack. She scored 24 points against the Saints and was the MAAC's conference player of the week last week.