Delay of game
Jaques says a 2nd halt as a result of COVID is beyond disappointing
Siena women’s basketball coach Ali Jaques says another halt to the Saints’ season due to COVID is beyond disappointing./
Siena women’s basketball coach Ali Jaques got the phone call while she was rebounding for one of her players at the end of practice Monday.
The Saints are on pause. Again.
The Saints have halted activities for the second time following a positive coronavirus test to one of their Tier 1 personnel, which includes players, coaches and support staff, the school announced Monday.
“It’s crushing,” Jaques said. “I think it’s beyond disappointing. It’s crushing ... my kids, it’s really tough for them right now.”
Siena didn’t identify who tested positive.
Siena’s two games Friday and Saturday at Canisius are postponed, as is a Dec. 23 nonconference game against the University at Albany at SEFCU Arena. Jaques said the team will have again to quarantine for 14
days, which is called for by Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, state and county guidelines.
Siena said it has notified the Albany County department of health and is in adherence with the state and college’s COVID -19 protocols. Siena said the individual who tested positive has been isolated, and the appropriate Tier 1 contacts have been quarantined.
Siena opened its season by getting swept by Fairfield on Friday and Saturday at Alumni Recreation Center. That followed Siena’s first pause, which ended at midnight on Nov. 30 following the first positive test.
“There’s a lot of people out there suffering right now a lot
worse than what we’re going through,” Jaques said. “But psychologically, for our players, this is absolutely devastating. We’ll find out a way to bounce back because that’s what we do. But right now, it was literally crushing. I was emotional, players were very emotional. ... And I thought we had a great practice today.”
Jaques said she was surprised the program had another positive test so soon. She said the positive result came from Friday ’s testing. She said she didn’t think the positive came from playing over the weekend.
“I just didn’t think it would happen this quick because we’ve been completely isolated from everybody else on campus,” she said. “It’s not like we’ve had exposure. We’ve been in our own kind of bubble. It doesn’t make any sense. At all.”
The news of the latest pause comes just as the Siena men are preparing to exit quarantine at midnight Monday night. The men already postponed this weekend’s home games against Canisius. The Saints haven’t announced the rescheduled dates, though they ’re hoping to play Christmas week.
The Siena men still haven’t played a game.
Note: The Siena women announced the addition of mid-year transfer Selena Philoxy, a 6-foot forward formerly of Stetson and Seton Hall. The Queens native averaged 2.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game at Seton Hall last season. She’ll have one season of eligibility following the completion of the fall 2021 semester.