Buffalo, NY - Senior center Kristin Keller (Poughkeepsie, NY) had 19 points and 12 minutes in just 20 minutes of play to power the Red Foxes to a 69-49 victory over Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals today. The Red Foxes held a 36-24 lead at halftime and held Fairfield to just one field goal for the first 11 minutes of the second half. After Cathy Dash put the Stags on the board with a layup, Marist went on a 22-0 run to take the 58-26 lead at 9:43. Every Red Fox played in the game with nine different players scoring and 13 having at least one rebound.

Marist opened up the game on a 5-0 run from a quick layup by Keller and a Megan Vetter (Havertown, PA) three. Fairfield answered back with seven straight points to take the two-point advantage at 14:49. Both teams traded buckets for the next few minutes with Keller draining six points to put the Foxes up 24-17 at 6:12. Dash hit four straight points to pull the Stags within six, 29-23 at 3:16 before Marist went on a 5-1 run to take a 36-24 advantage into the break. Keller had 12 of her points and nine of her rebounds in the first half while Vetter drained all nine of her points in the opening stanza.

Keller scored seven straight points to jumpstart the Red Foxes' 22-0 run in the second half, followed by a Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) jumper and a Nikki Flores (Montvale, NJ) three. With the Red Foxes up 49-26 at the under 12:00 media timeout, Coach Giorgis looked to his bench to help Marist hold the lead and keep its starters fresh. They did just that, as rookie Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, OH) had six points surrounding a big Kristin Hein (Manasquan, NJ) trey. Dash stopped the bleeding for the Stags by hitting two free-throws at 9:21 to take the score to 58-28.

Janelle McManus scored Fairfield's second field goal of the half at 8:27, but Flores answered her with back-to-back threes to put the Red Foxes up 66-32. Marist continued to hold onto a commanding lead despite an 8-0 run from the Stags that took the tally to 66-40 with 3:57 left in the game. Fairfield continued to pad the score in the closing minutes, but sophomore Mary Alice Duff (Havertown, PA) kept the Foxes ahead by 20 off a feed from junior Erin Leger (Middlebury, CT). Marist would hold on to take the final 69-49 win and ticket to the Championship game.

Keller led all scorers and rebounders with her fourth double-double of the season while MAAC All-Rookie Team selection Flores had a career night. She had career highs in points with 12, assists with seven and minutes with 23. The Red Foxes outrebounded the Stags a commanding 50-31 while shooting 46.6% from the field and holding Fairfield to just 30.5%.

Marist returns to action on Sunday when it takes on Canisius in the MAAC Tournament Championship game. Tip-off is slated for 11:00 a.m. at the HSBC Arena and the game will be aired live on MSG.