Feb. 10, 2005

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Albany, NY - Marist senior captain Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) powered the Red Foxes with a career high 24 points to take a 62-44 victory over Siena tonight. The Red Foxes had not defeated Siena since Dec. 9, 1995, having lost 17-straight to the Saints. The win was Marist's tenth-straight and with it, the team improved to 16-6 overall, 10-3 in the MAAC. Siena fell to 11-11, 8-5 MAAC.

Siena's Laura Menty put the Saints on the board first with two free-throws after being fouled by Keller, but the Marist senior responded with a jumper of her own. Minutes later, Keller would hit a layup to put the Red Foxes up 6-4 with a lead they would never relinquish. Back-to-back buckets from Whitney Cave and Katelyn Dooley pulled Siena within two, 14-12 at 10:23. Marist would go on a 14-2 run in the final nine minutes of the half including seven points from Keller and a Nikki Flores (Montvale, NJ) three. The Red Foxes took a 32-16 lead at halftime, paced by Keller's 17 first-half points.

Siena started off the second half with a bit of an offensive spark that included back-to-back buckets from Whitney Cave but Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, NJ) extended Marist's lead to 19, 41-22 at the 13:59 mark. The Saints went on a 9-5 run capped by a Melissa Manzer three to pull Siena within 14 three minutes later. Laura Menty pulled the Saints within 12 on a pair of made free-throws with under seven minutes in the game, but that was as close as they would come. The Red Foxes finished the game with an 11-7 run that included five made free-throws by Flores to take the 18-point win.

Keller finished the night with a career-high 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) had her tenth double-double of the season on 16 points and 12 rebounds along with four steals and two blocks. A pair of rookies in Flores and Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, OH) recorded eight points each while Smrdel added four rebounds and two steals. Cave led Siena with 14 points and eight rebounds along with two steals.

The Red Foxes forced 18 turnovers by the Saints while only committing 12 and picking up 11 steals. Marist shot 42.6% from the field while holding Siena to just 29.4% on the night.

The Marist women will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Loyola at the Reitz Arena. The game will be televised on MAAC TV and tip-off is slated for 12:00 p.m.