Feb. 19, 2007

Final Stats

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Marist Head Coach Brian Giorgis earned his 100th career victory and the Red Foxes clinched the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season crown outright for the third consecutive season with a 75-57 victory over Rider on Monday at the McCann Center. The victory improved Marist's record to 22-5 overall and 15-1 in the MAAC, and gave the Red Foxes their highest regular-season win total in program history.

Six Red Foxes scored at least eight points in the victory. Freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) led all scorers with 18 points, shooting 8-for-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Fitz also added three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) scored 14, going 4-for-7 from the field, 2-for-2 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Junior forward Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) had 13 off the bench, mostly on the strength of a career-high three three-pointers in three attempts.

Red-shirt junior center Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.), senior point guard Lynzee Johnson (Xenia, Ohio) scored eight points apiece. Kresge, who tied the program record for games played with her 117th, added five assists. She now has 557 assists in her career, meaning she needs six to tie and seven to break the record of 563 currently held by Nina Vecchio. Dahlman added a game-high nine rebounds and four assists. Johnson shot 4-for-5 from the field and added a steal and a block in just 10 minutes of action.

The Red Foxes scored the game's first five points on two free throws by Fitz and a three-pointer by Viani. Rider answered with five consecutive points from Shaunice Parker. However, Fitz's basket with 15:09 left in the first half would give Marist the lead for good. After a three-pointer by Rider's Maura Gillooly cut Marist's lead to 9-8, the Red Foxes went on a 18-2 run in the span of 3:55 to increase their lead to 17. Marist added an 11-0 run later in the first half, and took a 47-25 halftime lead. The Red Foxes' first-half point total was their third-highest of the season.

Marist built its lead to as large as 35 points in the second half, but the Broncs cut the final margin to 18 on the strength of a 19-3 run in the final 8:04. The Red Foxes shot .529 from the field (27-for-51) from the game and .467 from three-point range (7-for-15). It marked the sixth time this season the Red Foxes have shot at least 50 percent from the field in a game, and it was their third-highest percentage of the season. Marist also outrebounded Rider by a 34-32 margin.

Janele Henderson and Maura Gillooly led Rider with 11 points apiece. Shaunice Parker led the Broncs (2-25 overall, 1-15 MAAC) with seven rebounds and also scored 10 points.

By clinching the MAAC regular-season title outright, and thereby clinching the top seed in the MAAC Tournament, the Red Foxes have assured themselves of reaching postseason play. If they win the MAAC Tournament, they will advance to the NCAA Tournament, but if they do not, they are guaranteed a berth in the WNIT by virtue of their regular-season crown.

By winning 100 games in just 146 career games, Giorgis became the third-fastest coach in MAAC history to reach the century mark, trailing only Canisius' Sister Maria Pares and Siena's Joe Hogan. Giorgis reached the milestone faster than any MAAC coach in the last 20 years.

Marist returns to action on Friday in New Rochelle, N.Y., against Iona at 4:30 p.m. in a game which will be televised by ESPNU. With one more victory, the Red Foxes can tie their program record for wins in a season, which was set last season.