Jan. 12, 2007
Final Stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Marist women's basketball team remained perfect in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play with a 63-54 victory over Canisius on Friday afternoon before 1,351 fans at the Koessler Athletic Center. The Red Foxes' third straight triumph propelled them to 12-4 overall and 5-0 in the MAAC.
Freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) led the Red Foxes with 13 points and tied her career highs with three blocked shots and two steals. Red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and junior guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) added 12 points apiece. Flores hit five of her six free-throw attempts in the final 1:05 to preserve the victory.
The Red Foxes turned the ball over just six times in the game, the fourth time in the last five contests and seventh time this season Marist has had fewer than 10 turnovers in a game. Senior point guard Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, N.J.) finished with five points, a team-leading six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Kresge, who played 40 minutes in a game for the sixth time in her career, now has a 41-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio against Canisius in the teams' last six meetings.
After a basket by red-shirt junior center Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) opened the scoring 46 seconds in, Canisius answered with a 6-0 run. However, the Red Foxes then responded with a 9-0 run of their own. A three-pointer by junior guard Courtney Kolesar (Concord, Ohio) with 13:38 remaining in the first half gave Marist the lead for good.
With 4:55 left until the half, Fitz hit two free throws to extend Marist's lead to 26-21. From there, the Red Foxes went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:26, which included three-point plays from Viani and Dahlman.
The Red Foxes held a 37-27 halftime advantage, and extended their lead to 17 when Flores converted a three-point play at the 8:54 mark. At that juncture, Marist held a 53-36 lead. The Golden Griffins responded by holding the Red Foxes scoreless over the next 5:34, as they went on an 11-0 run. It was snapped on a basket by freshman forward Lynzee Johnson (Xenia, Ohio) with 3:20 left to play. Canisius did not cut the Marist lead under six at any point in the second half.
Abby Randunske led Canisius (10-6, 2-3) with a game-high 15 points. Megan Lyte finished 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Jessie Lamparski totaled seven points, seven assists and seven rebounds. The Red Foxes held Amanda Cavo, last year's MAAC Rookie of the Year, to zero points on 0-for-4 shooting in 19 minutes of action.
Marist will try for its third sweep of the Western New York swing in as many years on Sunday, when the Red Foxes take on Niagara at 2 p.m.
