CANCUN, MEXICO - Casey Dulin (Milford, Conn.) came off the bench again to lead the Marist women's basketball team to a 50-47 win over Drake in the first game at the Cancun Challenge. Dulin finished with 13 points, including hitting five big free throws late in the game, as the Red Foxes held off a fierce Drake rally.
Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) and Corielle Yarde (Reading, Pa.) each had 10 points for Marist (2-2). Kelsey Beynnon (Burlington, Vt.) had six points, as did Kristina Danella (Manalapan, N.J.). Emily Stallings (Newburgh, N.Y.) had good stats off the bench, finishing with five rebounds, two blocks and two steals. She set a career-high with the two blocks and the two steals also tied a personal best. As a team, the Red Foxes had five blocks, one more than they had in their previous three games.
The Marist defense stepped up big at times, holding the Bulldogs (1-3) scoreless for long stretches of time. Right off the start, a layup by Beynnon and a three-pointer by Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y.) got the Red Foxes out to a 5-0 lead as they held the Drake offense off the board for the first three minutes.
With the score at 8-7 in favor of the Red Foxes, Gang scored five straight points, kick-starting a 16-2 run for Marist that included two 8-0 streaks where the Red Foxes' defense kept Drake scoreless for stretches of four and five minutes. Gang had two three-pointers in the run and Dulin and Danella each added another. A short jumper by Yarde completed the run and gave the Red Foxes a 24-9 lead with 6:42 left in the first half.
Marist maintained a double-digit advantage for the rest of the half, taking a 28-17 lead into the locker rooms. Gang led the Red Foxes with eight points and Yarde had seven. Stallings led the team with five rebounds, all on the defensive end, and added her two blocks.
The defense started off strong again in the second half, with Ockenden recording a steal on the first possession and feeding Gang for an easy layup.
Drake started chipping away at the lead from there however, scoring five consecutive points to cut the lead to six at 30-24. After a jumper by Beynnon brought the lead back up to eight, the Bulldogs rattled off another five straight points in a matter of 12 seconds to close within just three.
From there, Dulin took over for the Red Foxes, scoring eight of Marist's next 11 points to keep the Red Foxes ahead. After converting a three point play and hitting two additional free throws, her three-pointer with 3:40 left gave the Red Foxes an eight-point lead at 45-37.
The Bulldogs pulled within two at 47-45 with 33 seconds left, the closest they had gotten since 8-7 at 15:40 of the first half, but Dulin hit another two clutch free throws and Yarde added one more to seal the victory for Marist.
The Red Foxes will be back in action on Friday against South Dakota State for their second game south of the border. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.
