Jan. 6, 2007
Final Stats
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Behind a career-high 10 points from senior point guard Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.), the Marist women's basketball team earned a 74-52 victory over Fairfield on Saturday at Alumni Hall. The Red Foxes improved to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while the Stags fell to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the MAAC.
The victory was the first for the Red Foxes at Alumni Hall in nine opportunities, and the eighth straight win for Marist against Fairfield.
Kresge added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Dahlman also recorded a game-high 10 rebounds, tying her season high, for her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career. Freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) tied Dahlman for the game high in scoring with 16, and also added six rebounds.
Kresge began the scoring 29 seconds into the game with a three-point play, and the Red Foxes led from that point forward. Marist expanded its lead to 16 on a basket by Dahlman with 9:35 left in the first half. The Red Foxes took a 37-21 halftime lead, the seventh time this season the Red Foxes have had a double-digit advantage at the intermission this season. Marist's largest lead in the game was 24, when a jumper by Fitz with 4:32 remaining put the Red Foxes up by a score of 64-40.
Seven Red Foxes finished with at least six points in the game. In addition to Dahlman, Fitz and Kresge, junior guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) had seven, while freshman guard Brittany Engle (South Easton, Mass.), junior guard Courtney Kolesar (Concord, Ohio) and red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) totaled six apiece. Engle hit all three of her field-goal attempts, and Kolesar drilled a team-high two three-pointers.
The Red Foxes held the Stags to just 30.4 percent (17-for-56) shooting from the field in the game, including just 24.0 percent (6-for-25) in the first half. It was the 38th consecutive game Marist won when holding the opposition to under 40 percent shooting in a game, and the 26th straight game the Red Foxes prevailed in when having a better shooting percentage than the opposition. Marist shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) in the game. The Red Foxes have also won 23 of their last 24 games when topping 70 points.
Lauren Groom led the Stags with 14 points off the bench. Stephanie Geehan came off the bench to total 10 points and eight rebounds, and Sabra Wrice tallied 11. Wrice, who led Fairfield entering the game with 14.5 points per contest, shot just 4-for-13. Fairfield also had 19 turnovers, compared to 14 for the Red Foxes.
Marist returns to action on Monday, when the Red Foxes take on Rider at 7 p.m. in Lawrenceville, N.J. Rider stands at 1-13 overall and 0-3 in the MAAC.
