LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - The
Canisius College women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point halftime
deficit, but couldn't overcome 17 Siena offensive rebounds as the Golden
Griffins dropped their conference opener 67-61 on Monday evening at UHY Court
in the Alumni Recreation Center. The Golden Griffins see their three-game
winning streak come to an end and drop to 6-6 on the season.
Junior
Ashley Durham led Canisius with 14
points, including 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Jamie Ruttle had 13 points and seven
rebounds. Freshman Kayla Hoohuli had
13 points and sophomore Jen Morabito
had 11 points as the duo combined to go 6-for-6 on 3-pointers.
"We
didn't deserve to win that basketball game. Siena played harder than us,
keeping us on our heels for the better part of the game," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We had to dig to come
back into the game, but those hustle plays and key offensive rebounds went to Siena
because they played harder."
Siena
(3-7) took control of the game early with a 13-2 run, with a 3-pointer from Hoohuli
stopping the Saints' run and bringing Canisius within six at 13-7. The Saints
extended their lead to 10 points, taking a 22-12 lead at the nine-minute mark. Canisius
cut the deficit to six points on two separate occasions, but a basket from Maja
Gerlyng a few seconds before the half gave Siena a 32-21 lead at intermission.
Canisius
quickly cut the Siena lead to 34-28 after a basket from junior Allison Braun, but five points from
Gerlyng, including a 3-pointer on a second-chance opportunity, pushed Siena's
lead back to 11 points. Canisius would eventually use a 16-4 run to take a
47-45 lead with 9:45 remaining. The spurt included six straight points from
Durham and was capped by 3-pointer from Hoohuli on a cross-court pass from
junior Melissa Gardner.
Siena
then scored six straight points to take a 51-47 lead and eventually pushed the
lead to 56-51 with 5:27 remaining. After a layup from sophomore Courtney VandeBovenkamp, a backdoor cut
and finish from Hoohuli made it a one-point game with 3:36 left. On the next
possession, Canisius forced two Siena missed field goal attempts, but couldn't
get the rebound. Lily Grenci was fouled and missed both free throw attempts,
but Siena got the offensive board. An ensuing 3-pointer from Ciara Sole Anglada
gave Siena a four-point advantage. Both teams came up empty on their next
possessions, and Ruttle eventually split two free throws to make it 61-58.
Grenci followed with two free-throw makes to give Siena a five-point advantage.
Hoohuli drained a deep 3-pointer to make it 63-61 with 34.5 seconds remaining.
Siena then its last four free throws as Canisius didn't score the rest of the
game.
Cristina
Centeno scored a game-high 20 points and had six assists. Grenci had 18 points
and eight rebounds while Gerlyng had 14 points.
Canisius
continues its road trip at defending league champion Marist College on
Wednesday evening. Tipoff in the McCann Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Notes: Canisius
and Siena met for the 62nd time... Canisius has now dropped four of
its last five games at Siena... Canisius opened MAAC play with a loss for the
third consecutive season... Morabito made three or more 3-pointers for the eighth
time this season... Hoohuli is shooting 46.7 percent (14-for-30) from behind the
arc in the last seven games... Durham scored 14 or more points for the third time
in the last four games. The junior has made 34 of her last 35 free throws...
Ruttle had seven or more rebounds for the third time in the last four games and
scored in double figures for the fifth time in the last six games.
