Feb. 15, 2008
Final Stats
Press Conference Video
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist women's basketball team clinched their fifth straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title Friday night, defeating Niagara 66-51 at the McCann Center. In the win, sophomore forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) became the fastest player in Marist history to score 1,000 points.
Fitz scored 20 points in the win, going 8-for-13 from the field and pulled down a team high eight rebounds. Senior guard Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) also scored 20 points, a season-high and one point of tying her career-high. She also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) made three three-pointers off the bench for nine points, and senior Meg Dahlman (Spencerport, N.Y.) scored six points and had a career-high six assists as Marist won their 14th straight game.
The Red Foxes and Purple Eagles battled to a 7-7 tie 4:55 into the game. Marist went on their first big run of the game after Cathy Rutter tied the game with a three-pointer, scoring 17 of the next 20 points to take a 24-17 lead with 6:39 to go in the first half. Fitz scored her 1,000th point during the run, as Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) set her up in the lane for a layup. Johnson also made two of her three-pointers during this stretch as the Marist defense held Niagara to 1-for-8 from the field and forced nine turnovers.
Niagara would make a late charge in the first half, scoring seven straight points to pull within seven, 24-17, with 3:58 to go. The Red Foxes would answer that run by scoring 10 of the last 14 points in the half to take a 34-21 lead into the locker room. Marist kept the lead in double-digits the remainder of the game, stretching the lead to as much as 19 late in the game on a pair of Flores free throws.
Marist (24-2, 14-0 MAAC) shot 11-of -24 from the field in both halves to shoot 45.8% from the field. For the second-straight game against Niagara, the Red Foxes were held in check from beyond the three-point arc shooting only 18.2%. The Red Foxes countered that with a great team defensive effort, holding the Purple Eagles to 29.2% shooting from the field and only 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Niagara (5-20, 3-11 MAAC) outrebounded Marist 44-36, but the Red Foxes turned 19 Purple Eagle turnovers into 16 points. Liz Flooks led Niagara with 11 points and nine rebounds, as Sarah Wilson added 10 points and eight boards.
Both Marist and Niagara wore pink shooting shirts before the game and had pink shoelaces and headbands for Friday's game, as part of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "Think Pink" initiative. The "Think Pink" initiative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. $1,467 were raised during the night for the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation, located in LaGrangeville, N.Y.
Marist will go on the road Sunday afternoon to take on Rider. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
