NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Iona College pulled away by holding the Canisius women's basketball team to two field goals during a stretch of nine minutes in the second half as the Golden Griffins lost 69-52 to the Gaels on Saturday afternoon. Canisius drops to 11-16 overall and 7-11 in the MAAC.

Sophomore Crystal Porter scored a career-high 23 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes, becoming the first Golden Griffin to break the 20-point barrier this season. Sophomore Tiahana Mills had seven assists while redshirt junior Courtney VandeBovenkamp pulled down eight rebounds.

“We kind of lost our way in the second half, not attacking Iona's defense in the way we wanted,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “Iona is so deep with a variety of weapons that their leading scorers didn't have great days in the scoresheet but got a lot of production from other players.”

Iona (24-4, 17-1 MAAC) scored 17 points in the opening six minutes of the game and jumped out to a six-point lead. Canisius battled back into the game with a 17-5 run during the next 10 minutes. Porter had 10 points during that run, which also included two layups from senior Jamie Ruttle and a 3-pointer from junior Kayla Hoohuli. Porter's final basket gave Canisius a 28-22 lead with just over four minutes left in the half. Iona would close the half on a 10-0 run, holding Canisius scoreless for the rest of the half, and take a 32-28 lead into the locker room.

The teams traded baskets early in the second half before a quick five-point spurt, capped by a 3-pointer from Haley D'Angelo, made it a 10-point lead for the Gaels. A jumper from Mills cut the deficit to 48-40, but Iona then broke the game open with a 10-1 run, including five points from Aaliyah Robinson and capped by a 3-pointer from Damika Martinez.

Robinson led Iona with 17 points while Martinez had 14 points. Sabrina Jeridore added 10 points and nine rebounds while Joy Adams pulled down 15 rebounds.

Canisius will conclude the regular season next weekend in the Koessler Athletic Center. The Griffs host Fairfield University on Friday night, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

Notes: Iona defeated Canisius for the sixth consecutive meeting… The 23 points for Porter are the most by a Golden Griffin since Ashley Durham had 29 points at Iona last season… Mills had at least six assists in a game for the ninth time this season, the most by a Golden Griffin in the last 10 seasons… VandeBovenkamp recorded five or more boards for the eighth time in the last 11 games… Canisius had 18 assists on 22 made baskets.