March 4, 2007
Final Stats
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - For the second straight year and third time in four seasons, the Marist women's basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Red Foxes earned a 64-57 victory in overtime over second-seeded Iona on Sunday at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn., in a game which featured nine lead changes and five ties.
Red-shirt junior center Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) had a season-high 21 points, tied for the team high with eight rebounds and blocked a career-high five shots. Dahlman shot 10-for-16 from the field, hit a three-pointer and was named to the All-Tournament team. Freshman forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio), who scored 19 points and tied Dahlman for the team lead in rebounding with eight, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Fitz averaged 21.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in the tournament's three games, and was 25-for-34 from the line.
The Red Foxes built a nine-point first-half lead on strength of a 15-3 run, and took a 28-23 halftime lead. However, after a basket by red-shirt sophomore guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) gave Marist a 40-34 lead with 11:11 to play in the second half, Iona went on a 7-0 run to take the lead as the Red Foxes went scoreless over the next 2:31.
The rest of regulation featured eight lead changes and two ties. A basket by Dahlman with 1:36 remaining gave Marist a 52-51 lead. Iona took the lead back when junior guard Lauren DeFalco hit two free throws 21 seconds later. With 52 seconds remaining, Viani split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 53 apiece. DeFalco missed a lay-up with 30 seconds to play, giving the Red Foxes the ball with the shot clock turned off. Junior guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) missed an 18-foot jumper in the waning seconds, and the game went to overtime - the first overtime championship game in MAAC Tournament victory.
Marist never trailed in the overtime. A basket by Dahlman 30 seconds into the extra period gave Marist the lead for good. After that, neither team scored for the next 2:20, until a three from Viani put Marist up five. A jumper from Iona senior forward Martina Weber, the MAAC Player of the Year, cut Marist's lead to 60-57 with 1:10 left. On the next possession, Flores' first basket of the game put Marist up five with 38 seconds left. Flores then hit two free throws with under 10 seconds to play for the game's final points.
Junior guard Tiara Headen led Iona with 15 points to go along with nine rebounds. Weber had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior center Regan Pettijohn and DeFalco finished with 10 apiece.
Marist (27-5) shot .418 from the field and held to Iona (20-12) to a .344 clip, including .167 (1-for-6) in the overtime. The Red Foxes committed just eight turnovers in the game.
The Red Foxes will learn who their opponent will be in the NCAA Tournament a week from Monday.
