March 6, 2004

Box Score

Albany, NY -- The Marist College women's basketball team advanced to its first-ever Championship Round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament with an exciting 62-54 win over #6 Saint Peter's this afternoon at the Pepsi Arena.

Both teams got off to a slow start, going scoreless for the first two minutes. Saint Peter's opened the scoring on a 5-2 run sparked by Lindsay Gonzalez's jumper in the lane. The Red Foxes answered with an 11-2 run led by senior Stephanie Del Preore making the score 13-5 with 12:03 left to play. The Peahens tied the score at 21-21 five minutes later on a layup by Kristen Hood. Marist went on another run pulling ahead by as much as nine with 3:06 remaining in the half. Saint Peter's cut the lead to 32-29 with just under two minutes left in the half but senior Nina Vecchio put the Red Foxes up by five closing the half with a coast-to-coast jumper at the buzzer.

Del Preore came out strong in the second half, scoring Marist's first 12 points as Marist would continue to lead the rest of the way. Saint Peter's cut the lead to 48-46 with 7:27 left to play on two free throws by Gonzalez but Shannon Minter countered with a layup. From that point on, the Red Foxes did not let their lead slip below five points.

Del Preore finished the night with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Maureen Magarity added 12 points and nine rebounds. Vecchio closed out the day with eight points, two rebounds and two steals while Kristin Keller chipped in with seven points and six rebounds.

The Red Foxes will look to capture their first MAAC Championship as they take on #4 Canisius in the final round at 12:00pm at the Pepsi Arena.