Dec. 22, 2006
Final Stats
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Marist women's basketball team saw its seven-game winning streak end on Friday night, as the Red Foxes (8-3) suffered a 67-52 loss to Yale (3-7) at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) led the Red Foxes with 14 points.
Yale finished with a +23 edge in rebounding margin, securing 47 to the Red Foxes' 23. The Bulldogs also finished with 19 offensive rebounds. Yale center Erica Davis finished with a game-high 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. Eight of Davis' 12 boards came on the offensive end. Forward Chinenye Okafor also had a double-double for the Bulldogs, tallying 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The first half featured four ties and four lead changes, but Okafor gave Yale the lead for good with 8:37 left until the intermission with a lay-up. Counting that basket, Yale went on a 19-3 run until halftime to take a 36-20 edge to the locker room. The 16-point deficit was the second-largest Marist has had at the half in the last three seasons.
With 5:08 remaining, a basket by Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) cut the Yale lead to 51-43. However, Okafor answered by going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line over the ensuing 24 seconds to put the Bulldogs up 12. Marist never cut the lead to single digits after that.
Flores and freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) each finished with 10 points, giving the Red Foxes three scorers in double digits. Red-shirt junior center Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) led Marist with six rebounds.
The Red Foxes committed a season-high 25 fouls, shot a season worst 54.2 percent (13-for-24) from the free-throw line, tied their season low with 24 rebounds, and had their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season at 39.1.
Marist returns to action at the Terrapin Classic in College Park, Md. The Red Foxes will face Liberty, which has won 10 consecutive Big South championships, in the tournament's first round on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Red Foxes will then face either top-ranked Maryland or UNC Greensboro in the championship or consolation game on Saturday.
