ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's basketball team battled back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Still, the Warriors hit their free throws down the stretch to recapture the lead to take the win inside Garth Pleasant Arena on Wednesday night. The Saints (9-2, 3-2 WHAC) outscored Rochester (9-1, 4-0 WHAC) 45-34 in the second half in the losing effort.
Peyton Banks led the charge with 25 points on 8-15 shooting in the contest. She added six rebounds, one assist, and one steal to her totals. Sha'kyia Parker scored 17 points with two rebounds, two assists, and a block. Anaya Powell netted 16 points off the bench for Siena Heights. Allye Minor finished with 11 points and six rebounds. E'Anna Won was the team's best playmaker with a game-high six assists while she also snagged two steals.
The Warriors used a 10-0 run to jump out to a 12-2 lead in the opening three minutes of play. Banks then hit the following eight points to cut the deficit to two, with 4:40 left in the first quarter. Rochester built a five-point cushion before a three jumped it to eight points, 25-17, with 2:22 left on the clock. SHU cut it to six with a jumper by Jillian Gelso in the final minute, but Lexey Tobel hit a three-pointer for the Warriors for the last basket of the first quarter.
Four-straight points by the home team pushed the advantage to 34-21 as the second quarter started. The lead hovered around 12 points for the next three minutes before a layup by Won brought the margin back down to single digits, 38-30 in the final five minutes of the half. A 7-2 run by Rochester jumped the lead back to 45-34 with 1:58 left on the clock, where the lead remained for the rest of the time until the teams entered the locker room at halftime.
Back-to-back three-point jumpers by the Saints cut the lead to seven, 56-49, with just over five minutes gone in the third frame. However, Siena Heights inched back throughout the remainder of the third as they pulled to within eight points (68-60) as the third quarter shifted to the fourth.
Rochester hit two threes to start the final period, but the Saints responded with a 7-0 run to trail 74-67. Banks scored nine-straight points while the Warriors were held scoreless over a 2:32 span as SHU drew within one point of knotting things up with just under two minutes to go in regulation. Powell was fouled on the next possession and made both free throws to give Siena the 80-79 lead with 1:41 to play. Lauren Wynn hit a layup to recapture the lead for the home team. Two free throws extended the lead to 83-80 with eight ticks remaining, and the Warriors survived to win.
Up Next
The Saints will look to rebound with a WHAC road contest against UM-Dearborn this Saturday, December 4, at 1:00 p.m.
