Dec. 11, 2005
Final Stats
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. -
The Red Foxes improved to a perfect 2-0 in the MAAC (4-4 Overall) after topping Iona, 68-66 in overtime. Senior forward Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) was unstoppable, pouring in a game-high 31 points to lead Marist to victory. Sophomore Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) made her first career start and played a career-high 41 minutes while tallying 16 points and six rebounds.
Camara came out of the gates on fire, scoring 13 straight points to give Marist a 13-4 lead at 13:08. The home team capped that with back-to-back threes from Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, N.Y.) and Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) to take a commanding 19-4 lead at 11:16. Iona's offense slowly crept in, cutting the Marist lead to 22-11 after a Martina Weber three-point play at 8:22.
Marist would not back down, answering every Iona bucket with one of its own to maintain its double-digit lead throughout the half. The Foxes were up as many as 33-18 after a Smrdel jumper at 1:16 before the Gaels scored four straight to close the half. Marist led 33-22 at the half on the strength of 16 points from Camara and 13 Iona turnovers forced.
Iona scored back-to-back buckets to open the second half, pulling within eight of the home team. Marist pulled ahead 43-41 at 14:34 with buckets from Smrdel and Camara. The game hit a stalemate after a made Iona free throw brought the tally to 43-33 Marist at 12:32. Neither team would score again until 8:36 when Iona's Weber made a free throw.
The Gaels began to cut Foxes' lead, holding Marist without a field goal for three minutes while catching up to 46-43 at 4:10. A Kristin Hein (Manasquan, N.J.) three pointer kept the visitors at bay, but Iona utilized a significantly taller lineup to continue gaining ground. A bucket from Smrdel and a pair of free-throws by Camara put Marist up 57-53 with 1:04 remaining. After a Weber basket, Lauren DeFalco nailed a three-pointer to Iona the 58-57 lead with just nine second remaining.
Camara was fouled on a layup attempt and made one of two free-throws to send the game to overtime, 58-58.
The two squads traded buckets early in the extra period, before Iona took a 66-63 lead at 2:35. Camara made a layup followed by a dramatic three-pointer by Viani at 1:27 to put Marist up 68-66. On the ensuing possession, Iona missed three shots in a row and Vilardi grabbed a huge defensive rebound to seal possession and the win for Marist.
Camara led all scorers with 31 points and added six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 33 minutes of work. Her 31 points tied the fifth-most ever in a single game. The record is 37 points by Charlene Fields against Lehigh on Feb. 3, 1992.
Smrdel tallied six rebounds and a block to go along with her16 points while Vilardi added eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Danielle McCray (Lyons, N.Y.) scored her first Division I basket and added six rebounds in 10 minutes of work.
Weber led Iona with 26 points while Tiara Headen neared a double-double with nine points and eight boards.
The Red Foxes were without 6-3 starting center Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.), who has been averaging 12.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. It is hopeful that she will return for Marist's next game, against defending Ivy League Champions, Harvard on Dec. 17 at 7:00 p.m. at McCann.
With its fourth straight win, Marist improves to 4-4 overall (2-0 MAAC) while Iona drops to 2-4 (0-2 MAAC).
