Nov. 27, 2004

Final Stats

St. Bonaventure, NY - The Marist women's basketball team picked up its first win of the season this afternoon at St. Bonaventure, 56-52. After being down by as many as seven points with just 6:00 remaining in the game, the Lady Red Foxes surged back offensively and defensively. During the last five minutes of the game, Marist went on a 14-6 run that included three steals to take the four-point victory.

The Marist defense was the driving force for the second game in a row, as the Foxes once again held their opponent to under 60 points. Senior guard Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) led the defense as it stifled St. Bonaventure's guards, including holding junior Stefanie Collins, who is averaging 19.5 points per game this season, to just four points. The Bonnies applied solid defensive pressure of their own, holding Marist to just 22 points on 27% shooting in the first half.

Senior captain Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) got things started for Marist with a quick layup off an offensive rebound from teammate Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, NJ). The Bonnies responded quickly as Collins scored one of her two buckets on the day. St. Bonaventure had an answer for everything Marist tallied offensively as the two teams traded baskets for most of the half.

The Foxes largest lead of the first half was three points, the last of which was at 20-17 following a three pointer by Vetter. The Bonnies made seven trips to the free throw line while the Foxes only visited it once; but fortunately for Marist, they went just 6-13 from the line in the half, 8-18 on the day. The teams took a 22-22 tie into the break, with Vetter leading Marist with seven points and Keller with seven rebounds.

It was more of the same in the second half as the teams continued to trade baskets and fouls. St. Bonaventure broke a 31-31 tie off a free throw from Tory Vborny and added to its lead with a trey from Pris Edwards. The Bonnies held the lead for the next eight minutes until the Foxes tied it up at 48-48 off a layup from Keller and took the 49-48 lead after a free throw from junior Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea). St. Bonaventure went just 2-8 in the closing minutes while Vetter made five clutch free throws to seal the Marist win. The Red Foxes shot a much improved 46% in the second half, while going 12-17 from the free throw line.

Marist point guard Kresge tallied six assists, eight rebounds and seven points playing a career high 38 minutes without committing a single turnover. Camara tallied 13 points and eight rebounds on the day, exploding for 11 and five of those, respectively, in the second half. Keller was the Foxes' high rebounder with nine boards in a career-high 36 minutes, while also dishing out three helpers. Vetter finished the day with 12 points, six rebounds a block and a steal in a career-high 30 minutes. Freshman forward Stephanie Youdath (Mentor, OH) tallied 10 points, two rebounds and a block in another solid performance for the Foxes.

Tory Vyborny led the Bonnies with a game-high 20 points along with eight rebounds. Olecia Miller led all rebounder with 11, while Mandi Pierce chipped in two steals, five rebounds and four points in the losing effort.

With the win, the Red Foxes improved to 1-1 on the season while the Bonnies fell to 1-2. Marist will host New Hampshire on Monday night in its 2004-05 home opener at the McCann Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.