Jan. 20, 2006

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Poughkeepsie, N.Y. - The Marist women's basketball team (12-4/7-0MAAC) rebounded from a 22-20 halftime deficit to take a 61-39 victory over Siena (7-9/3-4 MAAC). With the win, the Red Foxes improved their winning-streak to 12 games, fourth longest in the NCAA while the Saints dropped to 0-7 on the road for the season.

Marist's Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) scored the game's first two points, but the Saints weren't bothered by that, as they quickly evened the score. After both teams traded buckets and plenty of missed shots, Siena gathered itself to go on a 10-2 run, including six points from Lauren Surber. The Saints led 18-9 at 4:31 before Marist freshman Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) hit a big three to start an 11-4 run to close the half. Sophomore forward Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) scored four points during the run to pull the Foxes with 22-20 at the half.

In the second, the Red Foxes came out of the gates hard in and never looked back, going on an 18-8 run to go up 38-28, nearly doubling their scoring by the 13:16 mark. Siena stopped the bleeding with a jumper by Shondaya Burrell at 1:25, but Marist kept its offensive pressure going. A Smrdel jumper kicked off a 14-0 run for the Foxes, upping their lead to 53-31 at 4:55. The teams were even in the scoring column for the last minutes of play, taking the final to 61-39, capped by a Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, N.Y.) triple. The Foxes shot 56.7% in the second half to make up the deficit

After scoring just two points in the first half, Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) got it going offensively and would tallied 12 more in the second. She finished with 14 points, five steals and two blocks.

Camara continued to live up to her Preseason Player of the Year accolade, scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, just one shy of her career high. She also added five steals, three assists and two blocks in a well-rounded effort.

Smrdel joined Camara and Dahlman in double figures with 10 points on 5-7 shooting, while Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, N.J.) tallied 10 assists and five steals. Marist outrebounded Siena 39-32 and shot 43.3% from the field to Siena's 34%.

Lauren Surber led Siena with 13 points while Whitney Cave tallied 10 points and nine rebounds.

Marist returns to action on Sunday when they travel to St. Peter's for a 3:00 p.m. tip. Earlier this season, the Red Foxes topped the Peahens, 60-43.