Feb. 3, 2005

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Poughkeepsie, NY - Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) led the Marist women's basketball team to a 49-39 win over Iona with her ninth double-double of the season and third straight. Camara's 19 points and 15 rebounds made for her eighth double-double in Marist's 11 MAAC contests. The Red Foxes' defense pulled them through the contest as they held Iona to 30 percent shooting and allowed only six trips to the free-throw line.

Senior Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) had four straight points to put Marist on the board early. Following a Camara jumper, Tonir Horvath and Regan Pettijohn brought the tally to 6-4 at the 17:24 mark. Marist went on a 10-2 run capped by a Stephanie Youdath (Mentor, OH) layup to take a 17-6 lead with under 10:00 left in the half. Seven straight points from Meg Abele pulled Iona within four, 19-15 at 5:42 in the first. Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) drained a three to give Marist a seven-point lead that they would hold onto to take a 28-21 lead into the locker room.

Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, NY) nailed a three-pointer just seconds into the half to put Marist up 31-21, but the Red Foxes would not score again for another four minutes. Iona pulled within two off an Abele jumper, 31-29 but Kristin Hein (Manasquan, NJ) broke Marist's scoring drought and gave the Foxes a four-point lead. The Gaels would not score again for another eight minutes when Regan Pettijohn hit a free-throw to pull within 41-30 at 8:05. Neither team could get an offensive rhythm going for the rest of the half and the Red Foxes survived just 15% shooting in the half to take the eventual 49-39 win.

The Gaels committed 27 fouls on the night along with 22 turnovers while Marist had 16 miscues and outrebounded Iona 44-41. Seniors Vetter and Keller each had six points for Marist while Keller pulled down eight rebounds. Camara added three assists, two blocks and two steals to her 19 points and 15 rebounds while sophomore Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, NJ) grabbed eight boards and had three assists. Abele paced the Gaels with 17 points while Pettijohn had a team-high 14 rebounds.

With the win, Marist improved to 14-6 overall and 8-3 in the MAAC and the team's eight-game winning streak tied the record set in 1992-93. Iona fell to 3-17 (1-10 MAAC) with the loss. The Red Foxes will look to break the streak record against Fairfield on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the McCann Center.