March 7, 2003
Box Score
Trenton, NJ - The Marist College women's basketball team saw its 2002-03 season end this afternoon, falling 79-62 to the Siena College, the number two-seed, at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament, played at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. The Red Foxes finish the season at 13-16 overall, and were the number seven seed in the tournament, having earned their first-ever MAAC Tournament win, 72-69, over Loyola on Thursday.
Siena, 23-6, jumped out to a 7-0 lead, holding Marist scoreless for the first 2:45 second of the game. The Saints led by 13, 23-10 9:21 into the game, but the Red Foxes would not go away, outscoring Siena 12-4 over thee next 5:00 of play, to get to within five points, 27-22. Siena would close the half on a 17-4 run to take a 44-27 lead into the intermission.
The second half opened with another Saint run, as the Red Foxes trailed 50-29 after 2:30 of play in the second period. Marueen Magarity picked up her fourth foul of the game with Marist down 18 points (50-32). When she returned the deficit was 20, 61-41, with 11:11 left in the game. Over the next 3:10, Magarity went 3-3 from the field and connected on a pair of free throws, to help a Marist run, closing the deficit to 13 points, 66-53. Kerry Sullivan and Kristin Vilardi both also made free throws in the run, as well as Megan Vetter recording two assists and a steal. Siena squelched that rally with a 5-0 run, and then Magarity and Vetter fouled out with 5:00 and 4:27 left, as Siena stretched the lead to as much as 21 in the final minutes.
Magarity led the Red Foxes offensive effort, scoring 18 points, as well as pulling down six boards for the Red Foxes. Vetter scored career-high 14 points, as she went 5-8 from the field, including a 3-4 effort from behind the three-point line. Sullivan scored 11 and pulled in a team-high seven boards for the Red Foxes, who finished with a 43-33 advantage on the boards, including an 18-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Marist shot 35.9 percent for the game, going 23-64, only hitting 4-15 from downtown. The 18 points of Jolene Johnston paced the Saints, who had all five starters in double digits. Liene Jansone had a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double for Siena, who shot 44.6 percent from the field (25-56) and were good on 5-16 from downtown. Siena connected on 23-32 free throws, while Marist only went to the line 17 times, connecting on 12 of those attempts.
The Red Foxes will return nine players for the 2003-04 season. The five seniors finished out the game on the floor for the Red Foxes, as Lauren Baskinger, Sarah Tift, Kathy Murray, Sarah Ferguson and Elisha DeJesus all finished their collegiate careers on the floor this afternoon. Baskinger was 1-1 from the field, for two points, her first post-season points.
