LOUDONVILLE - The hottest college basketball team in the area is the Siena women's basketball team.

The Saints won the fifth straight game on Monday night, defeated Fairfield 54-46.

Siena is 4-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, tied with Marist for first place.

"I think they're learning what it takes to be a No. 1 team," said Siena coach Gina Castelli at Tuesday's meeting with the media. "I'm not sure we're there yet, in terms of the mentality."

When asked what the biggest difference has been since the team started 1-8, Castelli responded teamwork.

"That's the hard thing to get," she said. "There's just a definite difference in how our players are seeing the game."

The team has been led all season by senior Serena Moore (left).

"I can't say enough about her effort," Castelli said.

The play of juniors Cristina Centeno and Maja Gerlyng have really helped boost the team.

"For Cristina to be the high scorer yesterday, that says a lot about her game and how it's evolved, especially this year," Castelli said. "Maja, obviously, has really turned it on and Serena has been the one that everyone has been concentrating on."

The Saints' next two games are at Niagara (Friday) and at Canisius (Sunday).

Marist has won the past four MAAC titles, but right now it looks like Siena has a chance to make a run for the title.

"It's tough because Marist is so good right now," Castelli said. "And then it's everybody else in the league."