POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) set a new career-high with 20 points on an impressive 8-11 shooting and the Marist women's basketball team improved to 6-0 in conference play with a 63-44 victory over visiting Niagara Sunday afternoon at McCann Arena.
Corielle Yarde (Reading, Pa.) finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and handed out five assists while adding two blocks on the defensive end. Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y) had six points and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds. Casey Dulin (Milford, Mass.) dished out six assists, while only committing one turnover. Natalie Gomez (Andover, Mass.) also had a personal best with six rebounds, coming off the bench. Emma O'Connor doubled her career-high with four steals. The Red Foxes had 12 steals as a team, forcing Niagara into 19 turnovers, while holding their opponent under 50 points for the third straight game.
Marist (11-6, 6-0 MAAC) started out quick again, scoring the game's first seven points on back-to-back buckets by Gang and a long three-pointer by Ockenden. After a Niagara (5-13, 2-4 MAAC) basket, The Red Foxes scored eight of the next ten points to open up a double digit lead at 15-4 with 13:27 left in the first half. Dulin and Yarde each hit a pair of free throws, Gang hit another jumper and Ockenden took a feed from Yarde for a layup.
The Purple Eagles closed within seven at 16-9, but that is as close as they would get for the rest of the game as Marist went on another 14-5 run to open the game up at 30-14 with four minutes to go. Kelsey Beynnon (Burlington, Vt.) started the streak with a jumper the made a steal on the defensive end that led to a three-point play by Gang. Yarde hit two from the charity stripe and Gang hit another jump shot and a three-pointer surrounding a layup by Yarde.
The lead was 14 at the half at 32-19. Gang led all scorers at the break with 14 points. Yarde was second with eight. The Red Foxes defense forced 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and held Niagara to just 31% shooting.
The hot shooting continued as the Red Foxes scored on their first six possessions, part of an 18-4 run to begin the second half that doubled the Marist lead to 51-23. Yarde led the charge with eight points, all on layups. Gang and Beynnon each contributed four points to the run.
From there, Marist maintained a lead of at least 18 points. Yarde had 11 points in the half to lead the offense.
The Red Foxes continue their homestand when they host Rider in a 7 p.m. contest. Loyola will come to Poughkeepsie on Friday for a game that will start at 6 p.m. and be broadcasted nationally on ESPNU.
Notes - Marist has now won 30 consecutive games in the MAAC.... The Red Foxes are now 18-11 all-time against Niagara and Head Coach Brian Giorgis is 17-3 against the Purple Eagles.
