Feb. 9, 2010

Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, CONN. - The Marist women's basketball team lost its second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the season Tuesday night, losing in the final seconds to Fairfield 61-60 at the Arena at Harbor Yard Tuesday night. Desiree Pina's layup with 31.3 seconds left gave the Stags the one-point lead, which Marist could not erase on its last possession. Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) led the Red Foxes with 17 points.

Allenspach was 6-of-11 from the field and made three three-pointers. Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) had a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) had eight points and five rebounds off the bench.

Marist (18-6, 10-2 MAAC) opened the game on a 10-0, getting layups from Fitz and Erica Allenspach three to spark a 9-4 run, as layups by Yarde and Fitz made the score 19-8 with 13:09 left in the opening half.

Fairfield (11-12, 5-7 MAAC) came back with a 10-4 run of their own, as a Brittany MacFarlane layup made the score 23-18 with 9:05 remaining in the half. The Red Foxes put the lead back up to eight, 26-18, with 8:09 to go in the first on a Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) three-point play. The Stags then went on a 7-2 run over the next 4:05 to get within one, 26-25. Fairfield tied the game at 28-28 on a Stephanie Geehan three-pointer. Allenspach then made her second three-pointer of the game at the 2:43 mark to give Marist a 31-28 lead.

The Stags tied the game at 31-31 with a Joelle Nawrocki triple with 1:49 left in the half. Linney then scored the Stags' last five points of the half, with her three-pointer with four seconds left in the half gave Fairfield a 36-33 halftime lead.

Allenspach scored Marist's first four points of the half to give the Red Foxes a 37-36 lead with 18:58 left in the game. With the game tied 40-40, Fairfield took a 43-40 lead on a Taryn Johnson three-point play with 15:30 to go. Lynzee Johnson responded with a three-pointer to tie the game 43-43 with 15:03 remaining. The two teams traded baskets for the next 2:53, as an Allenspach three-pointer tied the game 48-48 with 12:10 to go.

Fairfield took a 50-48 lead with 8:58 to go on a Desiree Pina layup. Marist took the lead back at the 7:51 mark on an Elise Caron (Quebec, Canada) three-pointer, making the score 51-50. The Stags took the lead back on another Pina basket, taking a 52-51 lead with 6:26 to go. Fairfield then got a Geehan baseline jumper and a Johnson three-point play gave the home team a 57-51 lead with 4:49 left in the game.

The Red Foxes cut the lead to three, 57-54, with 3:31 to go on a Yarde layup, but Fairfield put the lead back up to five with 3:08 left on a Tara Flaherty putback basket. Marist then went on a 6-0 run over the next 2:22 as a Fitz three-pointer gave the Red Foxes a 60-59 lead with 46 seconds left. Pina then brought the ball down for the Stags and made a driving layup with 31.3 seconds to go. Marist had two chances for the win in the final 10 seconds but couldn't find the bottom of the basket.

Marist shot 46% from the field for the game while Fairfield shot 47.4% from the field. The Stags outrebounded the Red Foxes 32-27. Johnson led all scorers with 18 points, while Linney added 15 points.

Marist returns to the McCann Center on Friday, Feb. 12 to take on the Rider Broncs at 7:30 p.m. The game is the Red Foxes' WBCA Pink Zone game, presented by DRA Imaging. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game to help support breast cancer awareness. The first 1,000 fans to enter the McCann Center Friday night will receive a WBCA Pink Zone T-shirt courtesy of DRA Imaging. The shirt was designed by senior fashion major Rachele Fitz. Also, the proceeds from the night's 50/50 raffle will be donated to the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation.