Jan. 2, 2011
Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist women's basketball team won its sixth straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener with an 81-65 victory over Rider on Sunday afternoon at the McCann Center. The Red Foxes were led offensively by senior guard Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) and junior guard Corielle Yarde (Reading, Pa.) who scored 21 and 19 points respectively. The win was also the team's sixth victory in a row.
Allenspach also finished the game with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. She shot 6-for-10 from the floor, 3-for-4 from distance and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe. Yarde added six rebounds, six assists and shot 8-for-13 from the field. Marist's third player in double figures was sophomore forward Kate Oliver (Sydney, Australia) who netted 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Marist (10-2, 1-0 MAAC) scored the first six points of the game in the first 1:27 of the contest, and forced a Rider timeout. Senior Èlise Caron (Quebec, Canada) scored the first basket and the run concluded with layups from junior forward Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) and Allenspach.
Rider clawed to within one point, 11-10, at the 14:48 mark on a pair of Sarah Homan free throws. After the Red Foxes used a 7-0 run to make the score 17-10 with 11:16 to play in the stanza, the Broncs fought back to tie the score at 19 with 9:23 remaining.
The Red Foxes responded with an 11-2 run over a span of 2:25 to push the lead to 13, 39-26, on a pair of Allenspach free throws. She shot 5-for-6 from the line in the half. Allenspach closed the half with a shot from the mid-court line to make push the Marist advantage back to 13, 44-31, at the break.
Over the first 7:40 of the second half, Marist used a 16-5 run to take a 61-36 lead, its largest margin of the game. The Red Foxes scored the first five points of the half on a triple from Yarde and a layup from Gang. The stretch was capped by an Allenspach three pointer off a pass from junior guard Kristine Best (Commack, N.Y.). Best had two assists in the game.
In the game, Marist shot 48.4 percent from the field and held Rider to just 35.5 percent from the floor. The Red Foxes compiled 21 assists on 31 field goals and forced 22 Broncs' turnovers. However, Rider did hold the edge on the glass, 44-37, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
Ali Heller of Rider (0-12, 0-1 MAAC) led the way for the Broncs with 12 points and made all four of her three point attempts. Homan joined her in double figures with 10 points.
The Red Foxes will continue their three-game homestand on Tuesday, Jan. 4 against Iona. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the McCann Center.
For ticket information call the Marist ticket office at 845-575-3553 or visit http://goredfoxes.cstv.com/tickets/mari-tickets-w-baskbl.html.
Notes: Marist improved to 30-13 against Rider all-time... The Red Foxes have won the last 15 meetings... For the sixth straight season, Marist is 1-0 to begin MAAC play and has beaten six different conference members in doing so, Saint Peter's, Loyola, Iona, Niagara, Canisius, Rider... Yarde scored 14 points in the second half on Sunday on 6-for-8 shooting in the frame... Allenspach has led the team in scoring in each of its last three games and has scored at least 20 points all three times.
