Jan. 30, 2005

Box Score

Niagara Falls, NY - The Marist women's basketball team took a 61-49 decision over MAAC foe Niagara to move to 13-6 overall and 7-3 in the league, good for a share of first place. With the loss, Niagara fell to 12-7 and 7-3 in conference. Marist junior Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) tallied her eighth double-double of the season and her seventh in Marist's 10 MAAC games so far with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Niagara's Toni Smalley put the Purple Eagles on the board first with a jumper to take the 2-0 lead that would prove to be their only one of the game. On the next possession, Marist junior Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, NY) drained a three to put Marist up 3-2 for a lead they would never relinquish. That started an eventual 17-6 run for Marist, capped by an Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, NJ) bucket to put the Red Foxes up 17-8 at the 14:09 mark. Marist gained its first double-digit lead of the afternoon following a Camara trey to go up 20-10 just seconds later.

Smalley pulled her team within nine off a jumper at the 10:16 mark, taking the score to 24-15, but Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) answered with her first three of the day to put the Foxes up 27-15. Once Marist regained that double-digit lead with 9:22 left in the first, Niagara would never again narrow the deficit to less than 10 points. The Eagles' offense got going in the closing minutes of the half, but the Red Foxes, on 57.1% shooting, had an answer for everything they put up and took a 41-29 lead into the break.

It was more of the same in the second, as Marist started the half with Camara swiping the ball from Niagara's Eva Cunningham on the first possession. The Foxes got the ball down the court and Vetter nailed a three off a pass from Kresge to put Marist up 44-29, forcing a Niagara timeout just 30 seconds into the half. Neither team scored again for the next three minutes until Cunningham hit a jumper, taking the tally to 44-31, Marist.

The Foxes stifling defense controlled the tempo of the game and the offensive flow followed suit. Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) drained two free-throws and then picked up a defensive rebound which she sent ahead to Vetter. Vetter quickly found freshman guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, NJ) for a fast break layup and one to put Marist ahead 51-36 at 12:49. Niagara continued to take shots rapid-fire on offense, but few made it through the hoop. An 8-1 Marist run late in the half sealed the win for the Foxes, as Niagara could not catch up.

Marist shot a solid 47.8% from the field on the day, including 60% from three-point range, while holding Niagara to an uncharacteristic 49 points on 38.5% shooting and a paltry 27.3% from behind the arc. Vetter was 3-4 from three-point range for Marist, picking up 14 points along with five rebounds and a game-high five assists. Keller's 12 points and seven rebounds gave the Foxes their 21st consecutive win with three or more players scoring in double-figures. Keller was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line and Marist shot an improved 78.6% from the charity stripe as a team. Cunningham was Niagara's only double-digit scorer with 17 while Jennifer Roueche had a team-high nine rebounds.