Jan. 24, 2005

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Poughkeepsie, NY - Marist senior Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) was one rebound shy of a double-double for the second-straight game (15 points, nine rebounds); however, with her nine boards, she reached the 500-rebound milestone, and sits tenth on the all-time career rebounds list with 506. Keller led the Red Foxes tonight as they held off a late-game comeback by the visiting Jaspers to take their fifth-straight win over Manhattan (7-10, 3-5 MAAC).

Aubrie Dellinger opened up the game's scoring with a jumper to give Manhattan the 2-0 lead that it would hold onto for the next two minutes before Marist's Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) three at the 13:52 mark, but Manhattan kept creeping up on them. A Dellinger three would give the Jaspers a 15-13 lead five minutes later but a Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, NY) three-point play followed by a Nikki Flores (Montvale, NJ) trey gave the Lady Foxes their largest lead, 23-17.

The Red Foxes opened up their advantage by as many as 13 points with under two minutes left in the half, 32-19, but Manhattan chipped away, scoring five straight to pull within 32-24 at the half. Marist committed seven turnovers but shot 54.2% for the half in which there were five lead changes and the score was tied six times.

Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) scored six straight points to get the Red Foxes jumpstarted in the second, but Dellinger got to work herself, scoring seven in the first seven minutes to keep the Jaspers close. A pair of Camara free-throws gave Marist the 46-35 lead, their largest of the half, but Manhattan went on a 10-2 run to pull within five at 7:20, 48-43. Back-to-back buckets from Keller and Kristin Hein (Manasquan, NJ) gave Marist a 10-point lead just minutes later. Manhattan continued to fight back late in the game, and Marist could not keep more than a five-point lead in the last four minutes. Donnette Reed scored eight points in the closing minutes, including a buzzer-beating layup to pull her team within two.

Dellinger led all scorers on the night with 17 points for Manhattan, while Keller led Marist with 15 points, nine boards and two blocks. This is the ninth-straight game in which Keller has had at least one block. Camara tallied 13 points and seven rebounds in just 17 minutes for Marist while Flores was the Foxes third double-digit scorer with 11 points, two rebounds and two assists. Dating back to last season, Marist is now 19-0 with three players scoring in double figures.

The Lady Foxes, who improved to 11-6 and 5-3 in the MAAC, return to action this weekend for their trip west to take on Canisius on Friday and Niagara on Sunday.