March 1, 2008

Loudonville, N.Y. - The Siena women's basketball team has secured the #6 seed heading into next week's 2008 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championships. The Saints nabbed the First Round bye as a result of their win yesterday over Rider, coupled with losses this afternoon by Canisius and Loyola. The Green and Gold automatically advance to the Quarterfinals and will take on the #3 seed on Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Times Union Center in Albany.

The Saints won their second game in a row to close out the regular season yesterday, defeating Rider in overtime 84-81 in Lawrenceville, N.J. With Canisius and Loyola both losing their games today, all three squads finished in a tie for sixth in the conference standings at 7-11. Siena had the advantage in all tiebreaker scenarios and thus was awarded the #6 seed, while Loyola garnered seventh and Canisius eighth.

However, the Saints will have to wait to see who their opponent will be, pending the outcome of tonight's Saint Peter's-Marist tilt. If Saint Peter's wins, Siena would square off with Iona, however if the Peahens lose tonight, the Saints would draw Fairfield for a fourth straight year in the tournament. The previous three meetings have all been decided by one point, with the Stags winning two.

Iona swept the regular season series with Siena by scores of 81-69 and 76-72. The Saints and Fairfield split their meetings with each winning on their home court.

All MAAC Tournament women's broadcasts including Siena's game Friday will be televised locally on the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG) with the championship game to air on Fox Sports New York. All Saints broadcasts can also be heard locally on WVCR 88.3 FM "The Saint" or online at SienaSaints.com. Friday's pregame show begins at 11 a.m.

Stay posted to SienaSaints.com over the weekend for continuous updates on the Saints Quarterfinals opponent which will be released on Sunday.