Siena women to make rare MVP Arena appearance vs. Binghamton
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The Siena women's basketball team will play its first game at MVP Arena in four years when the Saints take on Binghamton at 4 p.m. Sunday.
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It's the second game of a doubleheader with the Siena men, who will face Princeton at 1 p.m.
The Siena women usually play their home games on campus at UHY Center in Loudonville. They haven't gone to the arena in downtown Albany since a 69-63 loss to St. Bonaventure on Nov. 16, 2022.
At that time, current Siena head coach Terry Primm was still a second-year assistant with the Saints. Since then, Siena has focused on building a home-court advantage at UHY Center, which seats 2,148 fans.
The Siena women drew 445 for Monday's opening win over Brown at UHY Center. They averaged 564 per home game last season.
"We'd love more opportunities to go there (to MVP Arena)," Primm said. "The biggest issue is being able to pack the UHY out and have a justification to go down there (to Albany) because, of course, being a bigger space, the homecourt vibe we get at UHY is compromised a little bit in a bigger space."
Siena is holding a doubleheader on Sunday because it's easier to staff both games. It's the only time this season the men's and women's basketball teams are scheduled to play at home on the same day. The athletic department is stretched even thinner because the women's soccer team is hosting Manhattan at noon Sunday in a Metro Conference first-round match on Hickey Field.
The women's basketball team played at least one and sometimes multiple regular-season home games per year at MVP Arena under previous coaches Gina Castelli and Ali Jaques. Those games were typically the opener of a doubleheader with the men.
Sunday's game will begin an hour after the men are finished. Primm hoped some fans could remain to watch the women, who are 1-1 after Thursday's loss at Maine. Siena is picked to finish second in the Metro Conference.
"People have been positive about what we've been doing over the last couple of years with this team, in particular," Primm said. "I would expect a few to stay."
The Siena-Binghamton game is part of the new America East-Metro Challenge. Binghamton coach Mary (McKissack) Grimes played many times at MVP Arena, then named Pepsi Arena, as a Siena guard from 1999 to 2003.
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