Dec. 8, 2006
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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist women's basketball team earned its fifth consecutive victory on Friday, earning a 60-50 home victory over Loyola in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener. With the win, the Red Foxes improved to 6-2 overall, which is their best record after eight games in school history. The victory was Marist's 15th straight at home, and 17th straight at the McCann Center against a MAAC foe.
Senior point guard Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, N.J.) tied her season highs in assists with 10 and rebounds with seven. Kresge also had two steals and played all 40 minutes. It was the seventh time in Kresge's career she tallied at least 10 assists in a game, and Marist has won all seven games in which she has reached that plateau. It was also the 50th multi-steal game of her career. Kresge was also instrumental in holding Loyola's Jill Glessner, the MAAC's second-leading scorer entering Friday's play, to four points on 2-for-13 shooting.
Freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) led the Red Foxes in scoring and rebounding, finishing with 12 and eight, respectively. It is the fifth consecutive game Fitz has had at least a share of the team's scoring lead. Junior forward Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) added 11 and five rebounds, and red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) tallied 10. It was the third straight game Viani scored in double digits.
A hard-fought first half featured seven lead changes, nine ties and 24 fouls. With 1:04 remaining until halftime, senior guard Shannon Minter (Ossining, N.Y.) gave Marist the lead for good with a three-pointer. Freshman forward Lynzee Johnson (Xenia, Ohio) came off the bench to add six points, a career high. All of Johnson's points came in the back-and-forth first half.
With 8:13 remaining in the second half, Loyola's Erica DiClemente hit two free throws to cut the Marist lead to 46-40. The Red Foxes responded by holding the Greyhounds scoreless over the next 4:01, going on a 9-0 run. Junior guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) scored all four of her points in the game during that run.
For the game, the Red Foxes shot 42.3 percent, including 46.4 percent in the second half. Marist forced 18 Loyola turnovers while committing just 13. The Red Foxes have now won 17 consecutive games when forcing at least 15 turnovers.
Red-shirt senior center Vanessa Ruffin led Loyola with a career-high 16 points. Senior guard Brittany Dunn added 14, and red-shirt junior forward Meghan Wood had 10 and a team-high eight rebounds. Loyola shot 35.6 percent from the field for the game, and just 30.8 percent in the second half. Loyola fell to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the MAAC.
Marist will returns to action on Sunday with a 2 p.m. home date against MAAC rival Manhattan. Season, single-game and group tickets are on sale now at GoRedFoxes.com and the McCann Center ticket office. Other ticket inquiries may be directed to 845-575-3553. All Marist faculty and staff receive a 20% discount on men's and women's basketball season tickets.
