LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) scored a game-high 19 points and the Marist women's basketball team overcame a poor shooting start to extend their winning streak to 10 games by defeating Siena 56-45 Sunday afternoon at UHY Court at the Alumni Recreation Center.
Gang also recorded a career-high five blocks, part of a stifling Red Foxes' defense that had 11 blocks, 16 steals and forced 22 turnovers. Kelsey Beynnon (Burlington, Vt.) had 13 points, all of which came in the second half, and set a career-high with four assists. Corielle Yarde (Reading, Pa.) added 11 points and tied her career-high with five steals. Casey Dulin (Milford, Conn.) and Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y.) also tied personal bests with four steals apiece.
On Siena's first possession Yarde picked off a pass and drove the length of the court just 30 seconds into the game. After that however, scoring was hard to come by for the remainder of the first half.
With the score tied at six after the first media timeout, Gang scored five consecutive points on back-to-back possessions to give Marist (15-6, 10-0 MAAC) a bit of a cushion. She hit a jumper from the free-throw line after making a move around a defender. The next trip down, Dulin found an open Gang in the corner for a three-pointer.
After a couple of Siena (6-13, 4-6 MAAC) baskets, Gang hit another trey, to extend the lead to 14-10 with 10:14 left.
The lead was just two when Natalie Gomez (Andover, Mass.) stole an errant Saints' pass and Marist held possession for the final shot of the half. With under five seconds to go, Emma O'Connor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) got the ball at the top of the key and sank a jumper to give the Red Foxes a 23-19 lead at the break.
Gang led all scorers at the half with 10 points and also added two blocks on the defensive end. Yarde had five points and Dulin had four. Marist only shot 36% (9-25) from the floor in the half, but held Siena to just 23% (6-26).
The offense began clicking early in the second half as the Red Foxes opened on an 8-2 run. Gang hit her third three-pointer of the afternoon on a Beynnon feed. On the next trip down the floor, Beynnon drove the baseline for a nice layup. A couple of Siena possessions later, Yarde stole a pass and went down the floor on a 2-on-1 with Beynnon. Yarde passed the ball to Beynnon who made the layup while drawing the foul. She completed the three-point play to give Marist a 10-point lead at 31-21.
The Saints kept threatening to go on a run and get back in the game, but the Red Foxes always had a response to hold them at bay.
After Siena closed to within five at 34-29, Beynnon answered with a three-pointer followed by a short jumper by Gang to extend the lead back to double digits at 39-29.
Siena again cut to within seven with less than three and a half minutes to play, but Gomez took a pass from Yarde and nailed a three-pointer of her own to make the score 48-38 with 2:47 left.
Beynnon and Gang each went 2-2 from the free-throw line in the final minutes to seal the win.
The Red Foxes will play their third consecutive game on the road when they travel to Manhattan on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off. It is the National MAAC Game of the Week and will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Marist will then return to McCann Arena on Monday, Feb. 6 to play the rescheduled game versus Saint Peter's.
Notes - Marist has now had a winning streak of at least 10 games in each season since 2004-05... The Red Foxes have won 34 consecutive games against MAAC opponents... Marist is 21-28 all-time against Siena and head coach Brian Giorgis is 16-5 in his career against the Saints... The two teams will meet again in Poughkeepsie in two weeks on Sunday, Feb. 12.
