Dec. 5, 2004
Final Stats
Jersey City, NJ -
The Marist women's basketball team lost a thriller to MAAC foe St. Peter's, 52-51 at the Yanitelli Center this afternoon. Marist junior Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) tallied her second double-double in as many games, picking up 23 points and 16 rebounds. Though Marist led for most of the game, the Peahens drained clutch free-throws down the stretch to pull within one before a Tyonna Vance jumper gave her team the final 52-51 lead with just seconds to spare.
Senior captain Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) got things started for Marist with a layup off a feed from classmate Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA). After picking up a steal, Vetter got in on the scoring herself and then found Keller again to put the Foxes up 6-2 four minutes into the game. It would be almost three minutes before either team scored again, until Elina Kalnina poured in a layup to start the Peahens on an 8-2 mini-run. The Foxes regained the lead when Camara drove to the hoop, giving Marist the 12-10 lead. Marist maintained their lead for the rest of the half, extending it to as many as six points with 2:06 remaining. St. Peter's Bethany Anderson ended scoring for the half with a jumper to take the tally to 26-22, Marist.
The Lady Foxes got off to a quick start in the second, jumping ahead to a five point lead, but the Peahens refused to go quietly, answering every Marist bucket with one of their own. A Tiffany Jones trey closed the Red Fox' lead to just 35-33 with 10:44 remaining. Marist would increase its lead again after two made free throws by Camara, but St. Peter's got the job done from the charity stripe itself. The Peahens were 9-10 from the line in the last seven minutes while Marist struggled to drain its shots from the field. Vance would give her team the 52-51 lead with an off-balance jumper that rolled into the basket and the Red Foxes had the ball stolen after a tough inbounds play with just 1.6 seconds on the clock.
The Marist defense shined again, holding the Peahens to just 26.2% from the field on the day; however its own 31% shooting could not get the trick done offensively. Camara was all over the court, adding a block and a steal to her 23 points and 16 boards in 34 minutes. Keller finished the afternoon with 16 points for the Foxes, along with five rebounds and one assist. For the second straight game, sophomore guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, NJ) helped the Foxes break a tough St. Peter's press while picking up two rebounds, two points, two assists and one steal in a solid 13 minutes.
Jones and Vance led the Peahens with 16 and 14 points, respectively. While the Hens had no double-digit rebounders, they outplayed the Red Foxes on the glass, 49-42. Marist committed just 11 turnovers in the game while grabbing eight steals in all.
The Lady Foxes will be back in action on Saturday Dec. 11 when they host the Quakers of Penn at the McCann Center at 7:00 p.m.
