ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — It’s hard to predict how a team as young and talented as Siena’s women’s basketball squad will fare in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Saints (18-12) have only one senior, who seldom plays, and one junior. They have three sophomores, along with seven freshmen who are getting their baptism in the pressure of tournament college basketball.
They’ll learn quickly when Siena faces No. 5 Fairfield (15-14) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal at Boardwalk Hall.
Saints coach Jim Jabir said “we’ll find out” when asked if his team has enough experience to win a MAAC Tournament.
When: 3:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J.
Radio: WVCR 88.3 FM
“Well, we’ve tried really hard to get them thinking about coming together as a unit and not doing it themselves and not being fearful or hesitant,” Jabir said. “There’s safety in numbers and if we all come together, we can do anything we want and we’ve proven that we can get crushed by people in our league and we can beat anybody in our league, or at least be really competitive.”
Siena swept Fairfield in their two regular-season meetings. If the Saints can beat the defending champion Stags for a third time, they’ll meet top-seeded Iona at 11 a.m. Friday in a semifinal.
The Gaels squeezed past No. 8 Mount St. Mary’s 39-37 in a Wednesday quarterfinal. Iona beat Siena twice this season — by two points in Loudonville and by 27 in New Rochelle.
“Hopefully, we have three days of really good basketball,” Jabir said. “This could be the beginning of something epic. It could be something where we just come together and play out of our minds for three days and go to the NCAA Tournament. Or we could stub our toe and learn some valuable…
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