Feb. 27, 2005
Final Stats
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.- A double-double from junior Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) sparked the Marist women's basketball team to a 55-49 victory over Rider today for the team's 15th consecutive victory. With the win, Marist took sole possession of the 2004-05 MAAC Regular Season Championship and clinched the number one seed at the MAAC Tournament. The Red Foxes have earned a double bye in the tournament and will not play until the semifinals on Saturday. Marist improved to 21-6 (15-3 MAAC) while Rider fell to 8-19 (6-12 MAAC).
Senior guard Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) opened the game with a big three pointer to start the Red Foxes on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the game. Becky Hower put Rider on the board at 17:59, but 13 straight points from Camara would give the Red Foxes an 18-8 lead with 11:24 left in the half. A three-point play from Kara Borel would help end the drought for the Broncs, but Vetter drained another three to give Marist's its largest lead of the half, 24-13 with under eight left in the half. Following that, Rider surged to a 14-1 run to close out the half powered by five points from Hower. The Red Foxes last field goal of the half was Vetter's three, as they picked up one point from a Camara free throw to trail 27-25 at the break.
Hower took advantage of two consecutive Marist turnovers and put Rider up 29-25 early in the second but Camara answered back with a layup off a feed from senior Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY). Tami Coyle hit a pair of free throws to keep the Broncs ahead but another Vetter three pulled the Foxes within one, 31-30. Rider held onto the lead as the two teams traded missed shots and a few made buckets until sophomore Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, NJ) converted a traditional three-point play at 12:08 to give Marist a 37-35 lead. The Broncs went on a 10-4 run to take 45-39 lead with 6:31 remaining in the half.
The Red Foxes responded to the challenge at hand by going on a 15-0 run that started with a Camara layup at 5:31 followed by five straight points from Keller. Camara and Kresge grabbed key steals on defense to help hold the Broncs scoreless while Marist went 7-8 from the free throw line including five made by Vetter in the closing minutes. With Marist up 54-45, Rider's Coyle hit two free-throws with 10 seconds left and Janelle Henderson drained last-second jumper to pad the final score to 55-49, Marist.
Camara's double-double was her 14th of the season and she added three steals and two blocks in 37 minutes of play. Vetter finished the day with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and a block while Kresge tallied five assists, six boards and three steals. Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, NY) had a tremendous defensive effort for the Foxes while adding five rebounds, three assists and a steal and Keller closed out the day with nine points three assists and three steals.
Rider's Kara Borel led all rebounders with 15 while Leanne Moore led her team in scoring with 15 points.
The Red Foxes will be in action again on Saturday March 5 when they will play in the MAAC Tournament semifinals against an opponent that is yet to be determined.
