Feb. 17, 2005

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Poughkeepsie, NY - A career-high 25 points from senior captain Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) paced the Red Foxes in a 62-43 victory over Niagara tonight at the McCann Center. In front of a crowd of 1,690, Marist won its 12th straight, improving to 18-6 overall, 12-3 MAAC while the Purple Eagles fell to 14-10, 9-6 MAAC. Keller's frontcourt companion Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) picked up her 12th double-double of the season on 20 points and 11 rebounds along with four assists and four steals.

Keller hit a three-pointer just a minute and a half into the game to put the Red Foxes on the board and she never looked back. Six-straight points from Toni Smalley put the Purple Eagles on top 7-6, but Marist answered back with buckets from Keller and Camara to take an 11-9 advantage. The Red Foxes went on a 6-0 mini-run to take their largest lead, 21-13 with five minutes left in the half, but Niagara stopped the bleeding with a timeout and pulled back into the game. Stephanie Youdath (Mentor, OH) put the Foxes up 27-22, but back-to-back buckets from Smalley brought the halftime tally to 27-26, Marist.

After allowing the Purple Eagles to shoot 46.2% from the field in the first half, the Red Foxes put on a defensive show in the second, holding Niagara to 21.7% shooting while scoring 35 points to the Eagles' 17. Marist opened the second half on an 18-3 run in the first 10 minutes. During that time, Niagara did not score a field goal until the 10:30 mark when Shauna Ambrose hit a layup to take the score to 45-29. Marist senior Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) drained eight points during those opening minutes for the Foxes. An Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, NJ) three-point play followed by four-straight points from Keller seemed to put the dagger to the Eagles as Marist went up 54-35 with just over six minutes left to play. Niagara could not get its offensive rhythm going despite five late points from Eva Cunningham and Marist still outscored the Eagles in the closing minutes.

Marist outrebounded Niagara by a commanding margin of 43-25, while forcing 16 turnovers and allowing just nine assists. While the Red Foxes had an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers, they shot a much improved 9-10 from the free-throw line.

Keller finished a great night with 25 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while Vetter flirted with a triple-double, posting seven rebound and seven assists to go along with her 10 points. Kresge ran the point solidly for Marist, dishing out six assists and snagging two steals while Camara was everywhere on the court in another dominant performance. Smalley led Niagara with 14 points while freshman Michelle Manfredi had a solid night that included eight points, seven rebounds and two steals.

The Red Foxes will be back in action again on Sunday when they travel to Manhattan for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff with the Jaspers.