Feb. 27, 2011
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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - For the second time in four seasons, the #21/21 Marist women's basketball team completed its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season with an unblemished 18-0 record. The Red Foxes posted a 60-45 win over the Fairfield Stags on Senior Day at the McCann Center, and ran the nation's longest winning streak to 23 games. Sophomore Kate Oliver (Sydney, Australia) led the way for Marist with a career-high 19 points off the bench on 8-for-11 shooting. With the win, Marist (27-2, 18-0 MAAC) set a new program record for consecutive victories.
Oliver added five rebounds and blocked two shots, while all three seniors made at least two field goals. Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) added 11 points, a team-high seven rebounds, six assists and a steal. Maria Laterza (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored the first bucket of the game and chipped in six points, two steals and a block. Élise Caron (Quebec, Canada) scored five points and added two assists and four steals.
After the lead changed seven times in the first 5:04 of the game, the Red Foxes pushed the lead to three, 14-11, on an Allenspach layup with 13:01 to go in the opening stanza. Alexys Vazquez leveled the score at 19-19 with 5:26 to go in the first half.
From there, Allenspach and Oliver scored the last nine points of the half. The 9-0 run, which began with 5:09 remaining, was highlighted by an Allenspach three-point play and an Oliver triple. Marist was ahead 28-19 at the half.
The Stags got as close as six points three times in the second half. Katelyn Linney hit a jump shot with 11:54 to play to make the score 40-34. But Fairfield (17-12, 10-8 MAAC) would draw no closer.
Down the stretch, Oliver scored 10 straight Marist points over a span of 1:43 to push the lead to 15 points, 55-40, with 5:03 remaining on the clock. The spurt also marked a 10-2 run for the Red Foxes. In the second half alone, Oliver scored 14 of her game-high 19 points.
Marist grew the lead to as many as 18, 58-40, with 4:08 to play on a Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) triple off a pass from Allenspach.
For the game, the Red Foxes shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the field, led by eight field goals from Oliver. Marist edged Fairfield in the paint 32-14, while the Red Foxes got 16 points of 11 Fairfield turnovers. The Stags shot just 30.5 percent (18-for-59) from the floor.
The Red Foxes enter the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Basketball Championship as the top-seed and will square off with the winner of the game between the eighth and ninth seeds at the conference tournament. Marist will play its first game in the quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 4.
For ticket information visit http://goredfoxes.cstv.com/tickets/mari-tickets-w-baskbl.html.
Notes: Oliver set a career-high with 19 points and eight field goals made... She accounted for 19 of the 22 bench points Marist scored in the game... The Red Foxes have won their last 10 home games to close out the season... Marist set a new program record in consecutive wins with 23. The last loss for the Red Foxes came on Saturday, Dec. 4 against St. Bonaventure... The Red Foxes went 18-0 in conference play for the second time in program history... Marist is the only MAAC school to go 18-0 during the regular season... Laterza started her first game of the season on Sunday. It was just the second starting lineup used by the Red Foxes this season... Marist is 20-15 all-time against... Giorgis is 17-3 all-time against the Stags.
