"The Iona College women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Sunday, February 28, 2010, in the Hynes Athletics Center. The Gaels honored seniors Thazina Cook and Anna McLean. The Senior Day celebration occurred in conjunction with the Gaels' final home game of the year, a 79-43 victory over Rider. The festivities included a pre-game ceremony and a post-game reception.
Cook, a 5-foot-9 guard from Newark, N.J., has had an extraordinary career at Iona. She has played in 122 career games, compiling 1,242 points, 632 rebounds, 100 assists, and 189 steals. A stellar defender and a gifted scorer, Cook has contributed in a multitude of ways for Iona. Her remarkable talent, leadership, and versatility make the two-year captain an exceptionally valuable player for the Gaels.
'Thazina Cook is a tremendous leader and competitor,' head coach Anthony Bozzella said. 'We've had a lot of great players enter our program, and no one is greater than Thazina. She will be missed as much as anyone I've ever coached.'
One of the top players in the MAAC, Cook earned a place on last year's All-MAAC First Team and this year's Preseason All-MAAC First Team. She was also selected to the 2008-2009 All-Met Division I women's basketball second team, indicating that she is one of the top players in the metropolitan area. Cook ranks among Iona's career leaders in scoring (12th), rebounds (ninth), steals (sixth), and games played (third).
McLean, a 6-foot-2 center from Freeport, N.Y., has had an outstanding career at Iona. She has played in 125 career games, amassing 1,028 points, 866 rebounds, and a program-record 180 blocks. A formidable post presence and a defensive stopper, McLean has had a huge impact on Iona's success. Her magnificent combination of talent, devotion, and drive make her an enormously valuable player for the Gaels.
'Anna McLean has meant so much to the Iona women's basketball team's success in the five years she has been a member of our team,' Bozzella said. 'Her competitiveness, teamwork, and drive are unsurpassed by any player I've ever coached.'
McLean has distinguished herself as one of the premier players in the MAAC, earning a place on the 2007-2008 All-MAAC Second Team and this year's Preseason All-MAAC Second Team. McLean holds Iona's career records for blocks and games played, and she also ranks among the program's career leaders in scoring (19th) and rebounds (third). McLean is one of only three players in program history with over 1,000 points and 850 rebounds.
This senior class's stay at Iona coincides with the winningest four-year period in program history (since the Gaels joined Division I in the 1981-1982 season). The Gaels have amassed 76 victories over the past four years, an average of 19 wins a year. Furthermore, Cook and McLean join Naeemah Ricketts as the only players in the program's Division I history whose team has had a winning record all four years of their careers.
During the pre-game ceremony, the Gaels presented Cook and McLean with a framed replica of their jerseys, a bouquet of flowers, and balloons. Bozzella also recognized the team's two senior managers, Micala Howard and Saroya Marsh, both of whom have been an immense help to the team.
Prior to the start of the game, McLean sang the national anthem.
The last career home game for the seniors proved to be a good one for the Maroon & Gold. The Gaels came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to an 11-2 lead and never looking back en route to their 36-point win. Iona's tenacious defense forced 32 turnovers and limited Rider to 33 percent shooting.
McLean posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Cook recorded 17 points, five steals, and two blocks. Junior point guard Suzi Fregosi dished out a game-high five assists.
After the game, approximately 100 people gathered in Spellman Hall for a reception in honor of Senior Day. This event featured a delicious meal and a touching slide show tribute to the seniors, prepared and presented by Provost Dr. Warren Rosenberg, the team's moderator.
Senior Day was truly a special day for the Iona College women's basketball program." -Michael Sacks
Monday, March 1, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
McLean Reaches 1,000 Career Point Milestone
"Anna McLean reached the milestone of 1,000 career points during Iona's 82-80 overtime loss to Marist on Friday, February 26 in the Hynes Athletics Center. McLean, a 6-foot-2 senior center from Freeport, N.Y., becomes the 20th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point mark.
This feat marks the latest of many achievements in McLean's decorated career in Maroon & Gold. McLean's exceptional talent, work ethic, and dedication make her an enormously valuable player for the Gaels.
'Anna McLean has meant so much to the Iona women's basketball team's success in the five years she has been a member of our team,' head coach Anthony Bozzella said. 'Her competitiveness, teamwork, and drive have enabled her to be a great player and role model for her teammates. Anna is one of the nicest and most respectful young ladies I have had the honor of coaching in my 18 years as a college Head Coach.'
McLean has distinguished herself as one of the top players in the MAAC, earning a place on the 2007-2008 All-MAAC Second Team and the 2009-2010 Preseason All-MAAC Second Team.
McLean becomes the fifth Iona player coached by Bozzella to score 1,000 points, joining Michelle Fahy, Tiara Headen, Lauren DeFalco, and fellow senior Thazina Cook. Following her 14-point outing against Marist, McLean has now scored 1,009 points as a Gael.
In addition to her prolific scoring, McLean ranks third in program history with 856 career rebounds and holds the program record with 180 career blocks.
Since entering Iona as a talented rookie out of Freeport High School four years ago, McLean has developed into one of the premier players in the MAAC. Over the first two years of her career, McLean established herself as a formidable post presence and defensive stopper, leading the team in blocks both years.
McLean had a breakout year as a junior in 2007-2008, when she averaged a double-double (10.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game). She played a pivotal role in helping the Gaels reach the WNIT for the second year in a row. She earned All-MAAC second team honors and won Iona's Best Defensive Player Award at the team's year-end banquet in April 2008.
McLean is putting together another stellar campaign as a senior this year, averaging 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. With a few games still to be played, McLean now looks to put the finishing touches on her outstanding career.
'Anna has truly been one of the greatest players to don an Iona College basketball uniform,' Bozzella said." -Michael Sacks
This feat marks the latest of many achievements in McLean's decorated career in Maroon & Gold. McLean's exceptional talent, work ethic, and dedication make her an enormously valuable player for the Gaels.
'Anna McLean has meant so much to the Iona women's basketball team's success in the five years she has been a member of our team,' head coach Anthony Bozzella said. 'Her competitiveness, teamwork, and drive have enabled her to be a great player and role model for her teammates. Anna is one of the nicest and most respectful young ladies I have had the honor of coaching in my 18 years as a college Head Coach.'
McLean has distinguished herself as one of the top players in the MAAC, earning a place on the 2007-2008 All-MAAC Second Team and the 2009-2010 Preseason All-MAAC Second Team.
McLean becomes the fifth Iona player coached by Bozzella to score 1,000 points, joining Michelle Fahy, Tiara Headen, Lauren DeFalco, and fellow senior Thazina Cook. Following her 14-point outing against Marist, McLean has now scored 1,009 points as a Gael.
In addition to her prolific scoring, McLean ranks third in program history with 856 career rebounds and holds the program record with 180 career blocks.
Since entering Iona as a talented rookie out of Freeport High School four years ago, McLean has developed into one of the premier players in the MAAC. Over the first two years of her career, McLean established herself as a formidable post presence and defensive stopper, leading the team in blocks both years.
McLean had a breakout year as a junior in 2007-2008, when she averaged a double-double (10.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game). She played a pivotal role in helping the Gaels reach the WNIT for the second year in a row. She earned All-MAAC second team honors and won Iona's Best Defensive Player Award at the team's year-end banquet in April 2008.
McLean is putting together another stellar campaign as a senior this year, averaging 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. With a few games still to be played, McLean now looks to put the finishing touches on her outstanding career.
'Anna has truly been one of the greatest players to don an Iona College basketball uniform,' Bozzella said." -Michael Sacks
Monday, February 22, 2010
What a Week!
First, I wanted to say sorry for not keeping everyone updated with this past week's events...it's been a crazy week of games, travelling and more games!!
So, we started off with a home game against Canisius on Monday (2/15). Playing without two of our starters, Anda and Z, we all knew that in order to win, it needed to be a team effort. And sure enough, the whole team came ready to play and we pulled off the W. Anna and Kris both had another double-double, while Milica came up with ten rebounds and five blocks! The inside game was a force to be reckoned with, ending with a 24-6 point advantage in the paint. But when I said it was a team effort, I meant it...we also added nine 3-pointers from five different players (Suzi, Diana, Kris, Tomica & Cat).
After the Canisius game, we had to put the win behind us and focus on Loyola's game on Wednesday (2/17). We were supposed to play Loyola on Friday (2/12), but like I mentioned in the previous post, it got rescheduled due to all the snow Maryland got!
We came into practice on Tuesday and left for MD right after...and when we got down there, we saw why the game got rescheduled! Snow, snow and more snow!! Two-lane roads were now one-lane and you still couldn't walk on the sidewalks because they were buried 3-4 feet under a pile of snow! Snow aside, we knew the game was going to be a tough one. Thazina was back in action but Loyola is NEVER an easy place to play. And, like we expected, it was a battle...the whole game. We ended up winning by 2 after Loyola threw up a full court shot that made all of our stomach's drop for about 2.2 seconds! Another W under our belt, we headed back up to NY to get ready for our Fairfield game.
We played at Fairfield on Friday (2/19). Again, another battle of a game, and our girls pushed through it as much as they could. We couldn't have asked for a better effort, but when you have trouble putting the ball in the basket, it can make it tough to win the game. Unfortunately, that's what happened to us at Fairfield...we performed well in almost every stat possible, except shots made. Again, great effort by every single player on our team, we just came up short in the end.
For the 3rd time of the week, we put the game behind and went into practice focused on our next game, St. Peter's on Sunday (2/21). The team went into St. Peter's, which is one of the hardest places to play in the MAAC, determined to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Defense was the primary focus (as it always is) and we really proved that at St. Peter's, winning 57-41.
With this win, we clinched 2nd place in the regular season standings; however, we still have 2 home games left...Marist this Friday and Rider on Sunday. The Marist game is our "Pack the House" game, so make sure EVERYONE comes to cheer us on...and Rider is our Senior Day, where we will honor our 2 seniors--Z and Anna. Two more regular season games...LET'S GO GAELS!!
So, we started off with a home game against Canisius on Monday (2/15). Playing without two of our starters, Anda and Z, we all knew that in order to win, it needed to be a team effort. And sure enough, the whole team came ready to play and we pulled off the W. Anna and Kris both had another double-double, while Milica came up with ten rebounds and five blocks! The inside game was a force to be reckoned with, ending with a 24-6 point advantage in the paint. But when I said it was a team effort, I meant it...we also added nine 3-pointers from five different players (Suzi, Diana, Kris, Tomica & Cat).
After the Canisius game, we had to put the win behind us and focus on Loyola's game on Wednesday (2/17). We were supposed to play Loyola on Friday (2/12), but like I mentioned in the previous post, it got rescheduled due to all the snow Maryland got!
We came into practice on Tuesday and left for MD right after...and when we got down there, we saw why the game got rescheduled! Snow, snow and more snow!! Two-lane roads were now one-lane and you still couldn't walk on the sidewalks because they were buried 3-4 feet under a pile of snow! Snow aside, we knew the game was going to be a tough one. Thazina was back in action but Loyola is NEVER an easy place to play. And, like we expected, it was a battle...the whole game. We ended up winning by 2 after Loyola threw up a full court shot that made all of our stomach's drop for about 2.2 seconds! Another W under our belt, we headed back up to NY to get ready for our Fairfield game.
We played at Fairfield on Friday (2/19). Again, another battle of a game, and our girls pushed through it as much as they could. We couldn't have asked for a better effort, but when you have trouble putting the ball in the basket, it can make it tough to win the game. Unfortunately, that's what happened to us at Fairfield...we performed well in almost every stat possible, except shots made. Again, great effort by every single player on our team, we just came up short in the end.
For the 3rd time of the week, we put the game behind and went into practice focused on our next game, St. Peter's on Sunday (2/21). The team went into St. Peter's, which is one of the hardest places to play in the MAAC, determined to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Defense was the primary focus (as it always is) and we really proved that at St. Peter's, winning 57-41.
With this win, we clinched 2nd place in the regular season standings; however, we still have 2 home games left...Marist this Friday and Rider on Sunday. The Marist game is our "Pack the House" game, so make sure EVERYONE comes to cheer us on...and Rider is our Senior Day, where we will honor our 2 seniors--Z and Anna. Two more regular season games...LET'S GO GAELS!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Snow!!
What a day yesterday with all of the snow!! We got about a foot and a half and the school was shut down all day yesterday and early this morning. NY isn't the only place that got hit with the blizzard...MD got another 10 inches on top of the 30 that fell from the storm this past weekend. Because of this, our game at Loyola this Friday has been rescheduled for Wed. Feb 17th at 4:30 p.m. It's going to be a long week of games coming up, but I'm sure everyone is ready for it!! :)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Marist & Siena Trip
What a weekend!!!!!! Good , bad and UGLY..
Friday night was a crazy setting!!! The top 2 teams in the MAAC....Great rivals!! A showdown for FIRST place in a SOLD OUT environment. It really doesn't get any better than that. Another great reason to be a LADY GAEL!!!
We started off fast, taking a 7-3 lead, to somewhat quiet down the crowd. Unfortunately, Marist got super hot from 3 point range and took the lead from us. We battled hard all night but just couldn't dig out of the early hole. We ended up losing by a score of 10.
We then boarded a bus and headed up to Albany, NY to play Siena. We had a great practice on Saturday (putting the loss behind us) and on Sunday we came out on FIRE!! We led 25-9 and really controlled the whole first half.
Unfortunately, we were reminded of a great lesson...Basketball games are 2 halves!! Siena came out shooting and made 8 of 9 three point attempts and tied the game right at the end. We went to overtime and lost right at the end. It was very disappointing. As well as we played in the first half, we played that bad in the second half.
I know we learned a great lesson and this will only make us stronger for the last 6 regular season games and our MAAC tournament playoffs!!
We are still in second place at 9-3...one game behind first place Marist.
We have 3 home games left...Hope to see you there!!
Friday night was a crazy setting!!! The top 2 teams in the MAAC....Great rivals!! A showdown for FIRST place in a SOLD OUT environment. It really doesn't get any better than that. Another great reason to be a LADY GAEL!!!
We started off fast, taking a 7-3 lead, to somewhat quiet down the crowd. Unfortunately, Marist got super hot from 3 point range and took the lead from us. We battled hard all night but just couldn't dig out of the early hole. We ended up losing by a score of 10.
We then boarded a bus and headed up to Albany, NY to play Siena. We had a great practice on Saturday (putting the loss behind us) and on Sunday we came out on FIRE!! We led 25-9 and really controlled the whole first half.
Unfortunately, we were reminded of a great lesson...Basketball games are 2 halves!! Siena came out shooting and made 8 of 9 three point attempts and tied the game right at the end. We went to overtime and lost right at the end. It was very disappointing. As well as we played in the first half, we played that bad in the second half.
I know we learned a great lesson and this will only make us stronger for the last 6 regular season games and our MAAC tournament playoffs!!
We are still in second place at 9-3...one game behind first place Marist.
We have 3 home games left...Hope to see you there!!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Another Good Set of Games
These last two games (at Rider and home against Fairfield) were crucial wins going into the second half of conference play. Our 85-60 win over Rider set a new school record for consecutive regular season MAAC wins, as well as most consecutive overall wins (8 game win streak). The 75-63 win over Fairfield extended that record to 9 wins in a row.
From the opening basket of the Rider game, we led the way and never looked back. Anna led with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Cat had 12 points (4-of-5 from three point range) while Kristina, Anda & Z each had 10 points. We were also extremely happy with Marissa's career-high 8 assists! Our bench played a very important role in this game, as every single player played in the game...they contributed 35 points! It was a great team victory.
Our MSG TV game against Fairfield on Monday was a great atmosphere to play in. Cameras, screaming fans and great competition made it exciting to be a part of! Z played extremely well with a career-high 25 points and 13 rebounds (her 3rd double-double of the year). Kristina also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Our point guard, Suzi, showed what she's capable of with 14 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Anda also scored in double digits with 12 points and adding 2 steals.
Our win against Fairfield put us tied for 1st place (with Marist) in the MAAC. We play Marist this Friday in Poughkeepsie, NY in front of a sold-out crowd. It's going to be another great Iona-Marist competitive game and we are excited to get it started. We'll also be playing Siena on Sunday, which will also be a very competitive game...can't overlook anyone at any point!
Another highlight video from the last 2 games will be up soon...be sure to check it out!
From the opening basket of the Rider game, we led the way and never looked back. Anna led with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Cat had 12 points (4-of-5 from three point range) while Kristina, Anda & Z each had 10 points. We were also extremely happy with Marissa's career-high 8 assists! Our bench played a very important role in this game, as every single player played in the game...they contributed 35 points! It was a great team victory.
Our MSG TV game against Fairfield on Monday was a great atmosphere to play in. Cameras, screaming fans and great competition made it exciting to be a part of! Z played extremely well with a career-high 25 points and 13 rebounds (her 3rd double-double of the year). Kristina also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Our point guard, Suzi, showed what she's capable of with 14 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Anda also scored in double digits with 12 points and adding 2 steals.
Our win against Fairfield put us tied for 1st place (with Marist) in the MAAC. We play Marist this Friday in Poughkeepsie, NY in front of a sold-out crowd. It's going to be another great Iona-Marist competitive game and we are excited to get it started. We'll also be playing Siena on Sunday, which will also be a very competitive game...can't overlook anyone at any point!
Another highlight video from the last 2 games will be up soon...be sure to check it out!
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