Jan. 7, 2006

Final Stats

Buffalo, N.Y. - Marist had three players in double-figures for the third straight game to take a 65-40 win over Canisius in a rematch of last season's MAAC Tournament Final. The Red Foxes, who have won eight consecutive games, improved to 8-4 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the MAAC. The Golden Griffins fell to 6-7 overall, 3-1 MAAC. Marist's Fifi Camara (Conakry, Guinea) led all scorers with 20 points and seven rebounds while sophomore Courtney Kolesar (Painesville, Ohio) came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points on 4-7 shooting from three.

Canisius took a quick 6-2 lead with Megan Lyte scoring all the points. Early on, it appeared the game would be close as Marist trailed 10-9 at 16:17 off a Kristen Vilardi (Fishkill, N.Y.) trey. However, that would start Marist on a 14-0 run to own the 20-10 lead at 11:34. Canisius could not catch up as Marist's stifling defense allowed its own offense to take control of the contest.

A three pointer from reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) gave the Foxes a 35-17 lead at 2:22 and seemed the be the final dagger for the Foxes. Marist held a 38-21 lead at the break, having held Canisius to 25.9% shooting from the field and forcing nine turnovers and committing just two.

Canisius' Lyte struck first in the second half, but soon it was more of the same as a Viani three gave Marist a 41-23 lead at 15:59. The Red Foxes rattled off an 8-2 mini run to keep the Griffins at bay, and they could never cut the visitors' lead to single digits. Back-to-back threes from Kolesar gave Marist a 56-33 lead at 9:07 and that was all the Foxes needed for the win. Marist led by as many as 30 points at 2:31 when Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) hit a layup to give her team a 65-35 lead. Both teams slowed their offenses late, but Marist outscored Canisius 9-7 in the closing minutes of the game.

Marist shot 38.7% overall and was a much improved 9-11 from the free-throw line. Junior point guard Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) also had seven of Marist's 45 total rebounds and classmate Smrdel, was solid off the bench with eight points and seven boards of her own. Kolesar scored her 12 points in 16 minutes of work while adding two steals. Viani finished with 10 points and two steals.

Lyte finished with 14 points for Canisius while Becky Zak was the game's high rebounder with 12. The Griffins struggled offensively, shooting 1-15 from three-point range.

Marist is now 5-4 against Canisius in the past three seasons and the teams have split the last two MAAC Tournament Championships.

The Red Foxes will return to the friendly confines of the McCann Center when they kick off a four game homestand on Tuesday when they play Brown at 7:00 p.m.