Ward and Iona host Mount St. Mary's

Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (10-12, 6-7 MAAC) at Iona Gaels (14-9, 7-6 MAAC)

New Rochelle, New York; Thursday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Iona hosts Mount St. Mary's after Zoey Ward scored 20 points in Iona's 65-51 victory over the Manhattan Jaspers.

The Gaels are 7-4 in home games. Iona is 2-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Mountaineers are 6-7 against MAAC opponents. Mount St. Mary's is third in the MAAC with 22.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Berlynn Carlson averaging 4.1.

Iona scores 60.3 points per game, 2.6 fewer points than the 62.9 Mount St. Mary's allows. Mount St. Mary's averages 5.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 more made shots on average than the 4.6 per game Iona allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Isabellah Middleton is averaging 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals for the Gaels. Ward is averaging 13.5 points and 8.4 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Giana Hoddinott is averaging 6.9 points and 1.5 steals for the Mountaineers. Amber Bullard is averaging 9.5 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gaels: 6-4, averaging 62.7 points, 32.1 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 7.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 36.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.0 points per game.

Mountaineers: 4-6, averaging 59.2 points, 33.5 rebounds, 12.1 assists, 11.5 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 35.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.