Jan. 29, 2010
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Trailing by nine at halftime to Canisius, the Marist women's basketball team shot 60% from the field in the second half to win 54-45 at the Koessler Athletic Center. The Red Foxes have won 13 games in a row and 23 in a row on the road against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents. Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) led all scorers with 15 points and also had a game-high eight rebounds.
Fitz scored 13 of her points in the second-half, finishing the game 7-of-10 from the field. She also had a game-high three blocked shots. Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) had a balanced game with nine points, seven rebounds, and a game-high six assists.
Canisius (8-11, 3-5 MAAC) opened the game on an 8-0 run, getting two threes from Micayla Drysdale. Marist (17-4, 9-0 MAAC) opened the game 0-for-5 from the field and the Golden Griffins continued to pull away early. A Brittane Russell three at the 14:44 mark gave Canisius an 11-0 lead. The lead grew to 13 at the 11:46 mark on an Ashley Durham jumper.
Marist scored its first points of the game on a pair of Yarde free-throws with 11:28 left in the half. Those foul shots sparked a 9-0 run for the Red Foxes. A Yarde three and a Fitz fastbreak layup made the score 13-9 with 8:18 left in the first half. The Fitz layup would be the Red Foxes' last basket of the half. Canisius went back up by seven, 16-9, on a Drysdale three-pointer with 7:57 to go in the half. Tasia Lee then went on a 7-0 run by herself to put the Golden Griffins up 23-12 with 2:32 to go in the first. Marist went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line in the last four minutes of the half, getting within nine 23-14 at the half.
The Red Foxes opened the second half on a 6-1 run as back-to-back baskets by Kate Oliver (Sydney, Australia) got Marist within four, 24-20, with 17:34 to go. After two Lee free throws put Canisius ahead 29-23, a Yarde layup sparked an 8-2 run for Marist that tied the game 31-31 with 11:51 to go. The Red Foxes then took the lead 34-31 on an Elise Caron (Quebec, Canada) three-pointer. A Fitz three-point play and a Yarde layup put Marist up by eight, 38-31, with 8:48 to go. During this 13-2 run, Canisius was held without a field goal for 5:33.
The Red Foxes led 41-33 when an Ellie Radke three-point play and Drysdale three made the score 43-39 with 3:00 to go in the game. A Fitz layup then started a 6-0 run for Marist, as a Kristine Best (Commack, N.Y.) jumper put the Red Foxes up by 10 49-39 with 1:33 to go. Canisius would get as close as the six the rest of the way, as Marist made five of its last seven free throws for the 11-point win.
Marist shot 37.5% from the field for the game and 83.3% at the free throw line. Canisius held the Red Foxes to 13% from the field in the first half, but shot only 25% from the field in the second half. For the game, the Golden Griffins shot 28.1% from the field. Marist outrebounded Canisius 43-33, but committed 19 turnovers to the Golden Griffins' 15. Drysdale led Canisius with 13 points, with Lee adding 11 points and eight rebounds.
Marist concludes its western New York swing Sunday at 2 p.m. at Niagara.
