Jan. 14, 2007
Final Stats
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. - Behind 22 points and a career-high 10 rebounds from freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio), the Marist women's basketball downed Niagara 65-52 at the Gallagher Center on Sunday to sweep the Western New York swing for the third consecutive season. The Red Foxes improved to 13-4 overall and 6-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference as they won their fourth straight game.
Fitz made her second career start in the contest. Freshman guard Brittany Engle (South Easton, Mass.) established career highs with 10 points and three steals in just 13 minutes off the bench. Red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) finished with 10 points and a team-high six assists.
A basket by red-shirt junior center Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) 40 seconds in the game gave Marist a 2-0 lead, and Niagara never tied the game or took the lead after that. The Red Foxes jumped out to an 18-7 lead with 10:54 left, but the Purple Eagles answered with a 7-0 run.
Niagara cut the lead to two at 27-25 with 1:39 left in the first half. Engle hit a basket and was fouled 17 seconds later. Although she missed the free throw, freshman forward Lynzee Johnson (Xenia, Ohio) got the offensive rebound. Then, senior point guard Alisa Kresge (Holmdel, N.J.) set up Engle for a three-pointer to put Marist up seven. The Red Foxes took a 34-27 lead into halftime.
Three-pointers on successive Marist possessions by junior guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) and junior forward Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) put the Red Foxes up 10 in the second half. With 12:43 remaining, a basket by junior guard Courtney Kolesar (Concord, Ohio) gave the Red Foxes their largest to lead to that point in the game - 12, at 46-34. Niagara answered with an 8-0 run over the next 3:21 to cut Marist's lead to four.
The Purple Eagles got as close as three at 50-47 with 7:27 remaining on a basket by Sara Prybyl. Niagara never got any closer, and Prybyl's basket was the Purple Eagles' last field goal of the game.
Marist held Niagara to 27.3 percent shooting from the field (15-for-55) - marking the fourth time this season the Red Foxes held an opponent under 30 percent from the field -- and 9.5 percent shooting from three-point range (2-for-21). The Purple Eagles did go 20-for-24 (83.3 percent) from the free-throw line. Shaunna Ambrose led the Purple Eagles with 16 points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field but 12-for-14 shooting from the free-throw line.
The Red Foxes shot 47.2 percent from the field (25-for-53) from the field, and held a 41-33 rebounding edge.
Marist will return to action with its first home game in a 40-day span on Friday, when the Red Foxes host Saint Peter's at 7 p.m. 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.
