LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Siena Women's Basketball schedule is complete, with the 29-game slate coming together with the release of the Green and Gold's non-conference schedule on Tuesday afternoon. Highlighting the Saints three non-conference home games, is the rekindling of the series with crosstown rival UAlbany on Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Alumni Recreation Center.
"We have put together a challenging schedule this non-conference season," said head coach
Ali Jaques. "The goal was to test our team and prepare ourselves as best we can for a very competitive MAAC conference. We are thrilled to host cross-town rival Albany in the ARC on Dec 7. This is an important game for our community, and we are excited to renew this rivalry."
Including the MAAC slate which was released last month, the Saints are set to play 13 home games this winter. Seven of Siena's home games will be contested on the weekends, including six on Saturdays. The schedule features six games of teams on last year's non-conference slate, with three new added teams. Other conferences highlighted the Ivy League, Atlantic 10, NEC, MEAC, and Patriot League.
Opening the season will be a home matchup with the Binghamton Bearcats on Nov. 5. The Saints last played the Bearcats in 2014-15 taking the 62-53 win. The Saints other home game falls on Nov. 16 when they play host to the Sacred Heart Pioneers. The Saints won their previous home matchup against the Pioneers back in 2017-18 by a score of 62-57 in the ARC.
Highlighting the Saints road trips this year will be a return game to Penn (Nov. 9) as they Saints will face the Quakers at the historical venue, The Palestra. Backing up that game will be a road trip out to Boston to take on Harvard on Nov. 12.
The Green and Gold also return a game with Florida Atlantic (Nov. 24) and former Siena women's basketball head coach Jim Jabir. The Owls faced the Saints at the Times Union Center last year, which was the first ever matchup between the schools. Siena will travel to Colgate following their matchup with the Owls on Dec. 4, as the Saints defeated the Raiders behind a 30-point performance from Sabrina Piper last year.
The trip from Colgate leads right into the matchup with UAlbany on Dec. 7. The last game Albany played at the Alumni Recreation Center came on Feb. 5, 1980 as the Saints topped the Great Danes 75-42. Since then, every other matchup between the two Capital City rivals has taken place at the Times Union Center and UAlbany's SEFCU Arena. The Great Danes hold a slight 10-11 advantage in the all-time rivalry.
Rounding out the slate will be games with UMass (Dec. 15) and Fairleigh Dickinson (Dec. 19) before the Saints play host to Fairfield on Jan. 2 to open the MAAC schedule.
2019-20 Siena Women's Basketball Season Tickets are on-sale now, and can be purchased by contacting the Siena Fan Relations Management Center at (518) 487-2202, online at sienasaints.com/tickets, or by e-mail at sienatickets2@siena.edu.
Siena looks to build off a 12-18 overall record, and 8-10 mark in the MAAC from a year ago. The Saints have rebuilt with a number of young additions of talent, with a strong recruiting class this season. The Green and Gold return a number of contributors from last season, including Piper who was one of three that averaged more than 10 points per game, coming in at 10.9 for the season.