Feb. 26, 2011

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#21/21 Marist (26-2, 17-0 MAAC) vs. Fairfield (17-11, 10-7 MAAC)
All-Time - Marist leads 19-15 Streak - Marist W2 At Home - 8-7 Giorgis vs. FFD - 16-3
Sunday, Feb. 27 - 2 p.m. - Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (McCann Center - 3,200)
Live Audio/Video - GoRedFoxes.com - PxP - Geoff Brault Color - Julianne Viani
Promotion - Shooter Bobblehead Day (First 1,000 fans) & Senior Day

#21/21 Marist will conclude the regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 2 p.m. tip against the Fairfield Stags in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) contest. The Red Foxes will honor the program's three seniors prior to the game - Erica Allenspach, Elise Caron and Maria Laterza. The Marist Athletics Department will also host Shooter Bobblehead Day, and the first 1,000 fans who enter the McCann Center will receive a FREE Shooter Bobblehead. A win would set the program record with 23 straight victories.

LAST TIME OUT

• #21/21 Marist clinched its seventh straight outright Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Regular Season Title on Friday night following a 64-48 victory over the host Siena Saints. With the win, the Red Foxes tied the program record with 22 straight wins and completed the road portion of their schedule undefeated, a perfect 12-0. Senior guard Erica Allenspach scored 20 points and shot 6-for-8 from beyond the arc.
• At the 11:17 mark of the first half, the Red Foxes began a 17-3 run over a span of 5:30. During the spurt, Allenspach hit two of her four first half threes and junior Brandy Gang and classmate Corielle Yarde each hit a pair of foul shots. Caron capped the run at the 4:47 mark with a jumper that made the score 31-16.

• For the seventh time in program history and third straight week, Marist is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll at the same time. After receiving votes in both polls since they won the Duel in the Desert Tournament in December, the Red Foxes cracked the top-25 in the Associated Press and Coaches' Polls on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 respectively.
• The Red Foxes are ranked 21st in both polls. It is the highest ranking in the AP Poll since Marist was ranked 20th on Jan. 19, 2009. The Red Foxes were also ranked 20th in the Coaches' Poll on March 4, 2008.
• The Red Foxes have compiled a record of 20-2 when they are ranked in either of the top-25 polls.

• Prior to its loss to St. Bonaventure on Dec. 4, Marist won its last 12 home games dating back to last season. The streak gave the Red Foxes the 15th longest home winning streak in the country.
• The last home loss prior to the Bonnies was against #16 Oklahoma on Dec. 9, 2009. The setback came in overtime by the score of 80-71.
• Since Brian Giorgis took over the program in the team is 96-17 when playing in Poughkeepsie. The Red Foxes amassed a perfect 12-0 clip at home during the 2006-07 season.
• Marist is 9-1 on its home floor this season.

• With its current 22-game winning streak, Marist has the nation's longest string of wins in the country. The stretch is tied for the longest streak in program history and surpassed a 16-game stretch in 2004-05. It is only the second time a win streak has reached 20 games.
• Erica Allenspach and Corielle Yarde have averaged 14.7 and 12.5 points respectively to lead the Red Foxes to 68.2 points per game. Allenspach is shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 87.5 percent from the line. Brandy Gang has made 33 out of 34 free throws.
• The Red Foxes have won their games by an average of 20.0 points per game and 15 have been by at least 16 points. In the first half, Marist has outscored its opponents 743-474 and average a halftime lead of 12.2 points per game.

• In their last two games, the Red Foxes have totaled 10 blocks in each outing led by nine in the two games from sophomore Kate Oliver. In three of Marist's last four games, Oliver has had at least four blocks. She set a career-high with five against Canisius on Feb. 14 and matched that number against Siena on Friday night. She totaled four blocks at Saint Peter's on Feb. 21.
• Senior center Maria Laterza has totaled five blocks of her own in the last two games including three at Siena. She stands at seventh on Marist's all-time blocks list with 79.

• Marist leads the country in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 10.9 giveaways per outing. The Red Foxes are ahead of second-place Michigan by 2.0 turnovers per game.

ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER RATIO

• The Red Foxes are second in assist-to-turnover ratio with a mark of 1.38.
• Individually, Elise Caron ranks in the ranks 42nd in the nation with a mark of 1.82.

SCORING DEFENSE

• The Red Foxes lead the nation in scoring defense and are the only team in the country to allow less than 50 points per game.
• Marist is one of three MAAC teams in the top-four nationally in scoring defense. Manhattan ranks third (50.1 points allowed), while Fairfield is tied for fourth and gives up 51.4 points per game.
• Since conference play began on Jan. 2, Marist has allowed just 45.0 points per game and has won its games by an average of 23.3 points.

• For the seventh straight season, Marist won the outright MAAC Regular Season Title and will be the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament from March 3-7 at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.
• Prior to the final day of the regular season, the Red Foxes sit two games ahead of second-place Loyola which has a conference record of 15-2. The Greyhounds have only lost to Marist during the regular season.
• In the nine seasons that Brian Giorgis has been the head coach, Marist has won a share of at least nine of the MAAC Regular Season Championships and six MAAC Tournament Titles. The Red Foxes shared the regular season title with Siena in 2003-04, but went on to win the conference tournament as the #2 seed.

• On the season, Marist has held its opposition below 20 points in the first half in 11 games, nine of which have come in conference matchups. During the stretch Marist has allowed a season-low 13 points in the first half on two occasions, both of which came against Saint Peter's on Jan. 8 and Feb. 21. The Red Foxes also held Siena to just 13 points in the second half on Jan. 31.
• The strong defense has helped Marist to double-digit halftime leads in eight of the nine conference games and at least a 20-point lead in five contests. The largest halftime lead Marist has possessed this season was 28 points, 41-13, against Saint Peter's at the McCann Center on Jan. 8.

• Junior Erica Allenspach joined Yarde in double figures with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
• Following Yarde's layup with 27.7 seconds remaining, Fairfield had two opportunities to win the game. Three-point attempts by Brittany MacFarlane and Katelyn Linney were off the mark. After Brandy Gang collected the rebound and was fouled, she missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Taryn Johnson took a desperation heave from half court as time expired.

• The Red Foxes have won four of the last five meetings between the two teams. Marist leads the all-time series 19-15.
• Prior to a Fairfield victory on Jan. 23, 2009 Marist won the previous 11 meetings dating back to Jan. 22, 2004.
• Head Coach Brian Giorgis is 16-3 all-time against Fairfield. Marist stands at 8-7 when it is the home team.

• Fairfield enters the final day of the regular season with a MAAC record of 10-7 and tied with Siena for fourth place in the conference. The Stags will use Sunday's game for seeding in the conference tournament as they are either the fourth or fifth seed.
• The Stags have lost their last three matchups and are 2-3 since they last played Marist on Feb. 6. Fairfield is led by Katelyn Linney and Taryn Johnson who average 13.1 points per game each.