Niagara, Monmouth, and Siena Advance on Day One of the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship

3/10/2020 6:26:49 PM

Atlantic City, N.J. (March 10, 2019) – Niagara University (9-20, 8-13), Monmouth University (8-21, 6-15), and Siena College (10-19, 9-12) move on the quarterfinals of the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championships after first round wins earlier today.
No. 8 Niagara - 64 | No. 9 Saint Peter’s - 53
2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship – First Round
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | Atlantic City, NJ

Key Moments:

The Purple Eagles were able to jump out to an early lead, dropping the first eight points of the game before a Peacocks basket.
Wil’lisha Jackson hit a buzzer beating shot from three-point territory as time expired in the first quarter to bring the Peacocks within one.
Kendrea Williams led all scorers heading into the half with nine points, putting Saint Peter’s out to a 29-24 lead.
Niagara came out of the locker room strong at the half, outscoring Saint Peter’s 23-14 in the third.
The Purple Eagles continued their strong second half play, outscoring the Peacocks 17-10 in the final frame.

Notables:

Niagara capped off the season sweep of Niagara, winning all three matchups on the season.
Dagny Davidsdottir scored a career-high 16 points and added nine rebounds for the Purple Eagles, earning her Tropicana Player of the Game honors.
Jai Moore also scored in double-digits for Niagara, dropping 11 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
Gabrielle Harris led the Peacocks with 16 points, Kendrea Williams followed with 13.

Up Next:

The Purple Eagles will take on the top seeded and co-regular season champion Rider Broncs on Wednesday, March 10 at 1:00 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

No. 10 Monmouth – 69 | No. 7 Iona - 60
2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship – First Round
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | Atlantic City, NJ

Key Moments:

Iona closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take an 11-7 edge into the second quarter.
The Hawks used a 10-0 run to start the second quarter, eventually taking a 24-18 lead into the half.
Monmouth used a 20-point third quarter to gain a 44-29 advantage.
In the final frame, Iona used a 13-1 run to climb within five points of the Hawks.
Despite being outscored 31-25 in the fourth, the Hawks were able to hold on at the end of the game.

Notables:

Monmouth’s Sierra Green put on a scoring clinic, totaling a season-high 26 points. Green added two rebounds and two assists in the win.
Monmouth scored 24 of its 69 points from beyond the arc.
Leading the way for the Gaels was Morgan Rachu and De’jah Williams with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
With the win, the Hawks captured the season series against the Gaels 2-1 after falling at home and picking up an early conference play win in New Rochelle.

Up Next:

The Hawks will move on to the quarterfinals of the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship to face No. 2 seed and co-regular season champions Marist. The game will be Wednesday, March 10 at 3:30 p.m.

No. 6 Siena – 58 | No. 11 Canisius - 48
2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship – First Round
Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall | Atlantic City, NJ

Key Moments:

Canisius’ AJ Timbers got off to a hot start, dropping eight of the Griffs’ 18 first quarter points.
Timbers didn’t stop in the first, continuing on to score six in the second, including a buzzer beater to send the Griffs to the locker room up 32-22.
The Saints came out from the locker room strong, outscoring Canisius 22-9 in the third quarter.
Siena closed the game out defensively, allotting Canisius only seven points in the final frame.

Notables:

In total, Siena outscored Canisius 36-16 in the second half.
Leading the Saints was Rayshel Brown with 20 points, earning her Tropicana Player of the Game honors. Brown added nine rebounds and four assists as well.
Sabrina Piper registered 16 points, going 6-19 from the field.
Seniors D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks and AJ Timbers paced the Griffs’ offense, both recording 16 points.

Up Next:

The Saints advance to face No. 3 Fairfield on Thursday after a day off. The matchup will be at 12:00 p.m. as the first women’s game of the day.

All games of the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship will be broadcasted on ESPN3, with the exception of the championship game on Saturday, March 10 at 11:00 a.m., which will now be broadcasted on ESPNU.

Tickets for the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships can be purchased by visiting ticketmaster.com or by visiting maacsports.com/basketball. To keep up with the postseason action, follow @MAACHoops on Twitter and join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #maAChoops20.

See below for the full schedule of upcoming matchups:

Round	Game	Matchup	Date	Time	Network
Quarterfinal	Game 4	No. 1 Rider vs No. 8 Niagara	March 11	1:00 p.m.	ESPN3
Quarterfinal	Game 5	No. 2 Marist vs No. 10 Monmouth	March 11	3:30 p.m.	ESPN3
Quarterfinal	Game 6	No. 3 Fairfield vs No. 6 Siena	March 12	12:00 p.m.	ESPN3
Quarterfinal	Game 7	No. 4 Manhattan vs No. 5 Quinnipiac	March 12	2:30 p.m.	ESPN3
Semifinal	Game 8	Game 4 Winner vs Game 7 Winner	March 13	11:00 a.m.	ESPN3
Semifinal	Game 9	Game 5 Winner vs Game 6 Winner	March 13	1:30 p.m.	ESPN3
Championship	Game 10	Game 8 Winner vs Game 9 Winner	March 14	11:00 a.m.	ESPNN

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About the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships:
The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships return to New Jersey on March 10-14, 2020 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. To stay up to date on MAAC basketball, visit http://maacsports.com/basketball and follow @MAACHoops on Twitter.

About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39^th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.