NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Marist women's basketball team, paced by four players in double figures, used a 13-4 run over the final 6:13 of the game to pull away at Yale for a 62-50 win on Thursday night. It was the first road win of the season for the Red Foxes.
Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y.) led all players with 14 points on 7-10 shooting from the field. She also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds and set a personal best with five steals. Kristina Danella (Manalapan, N.J.), starting in place of Emma O'Connor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) who is day-to-day with a sprained wrist, finished with 12 points and tied Ockenden with seven boards. Casey Dulin (Milford, Conn.), playing in front of a large contingent of friends and family, scored 10 points, all in the first half, and had a game-high four assists. Sydney Coffey (New Hope, Minn.) came off the bench and had 10 points including 4-5 from the free throw line. Marist shot 46% (25-55) from the floor for the game, assisting on 16 of those made field goals, and outrebounded Yale 39-35.
The Red Foxes (5-5) jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first two minutes on layups from Natalie Gomez (Andover, Mass.) and Dulin and two free throws from Danella.
After Yale (3-7) took the lead with a 5-0 run, but Marist went right back ahead 9-7 on a Gomez three-pointer, her first made shot of the season from beyond the arc.
With the Red Foxes holding a 15-12 advantage, Yale went on another run, this one seeing the Bulldogs scoring six straight points to move ahead by three at 18-15 with 9:04 remaining in the half.
Out of a Marist timeout however, Dulin and Ockenden combined to score 14 of the Red Foxes' final 15 points of the half. Ockenden hit a running jumper with 11 seconds remaining to give Marist a 30-28 lead at the midway point.
At the half, Dulin led all players with 10 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. Ockenden had eight points and a team-high four rebounds. The Red Foxes shot 46% (13-28) as a team from the field in the opening period.
The Red Foxes came out a bit sloppy to start the second half and Yale eventually retook the lead at 37-36 with 13:55 left.
However, back-to-back three pointers by Kristine Best (Commack, N.Y.), her first of the season, and Elizabeth Beynnon (Burlington, Vt.) put Marist up by five at 42-37 and forced a Bulldogs' timeout with 13:01 remaining.
With the lead down to just three points at 44-41, Coffey came off the bench and scored five straight points to extend the Marist's lead to eight points at 49-41. She first hit a pair of free throws before converting on a three-point play.
After Yale again closed to within three at 49-46, Marist went on a 7-2 run to again extend their lead to eight at 56-48. Ockenden started the streak with another layup and Danella hit her second three-pointer of the game before adding a layup of her own.
Marist hit three more layups over the final 2:20 - one each by Danella, Ockenden and Coffey - and never let the Bulldogs start a rally.
The Red Foxes take another extended break for the Christmas holiday. They return to the court to close on non-conference play when they travel to #7 Kentucky of the SEC on Sunday, Dec. 30.
Become a fan of Marist Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/GoRedFoxes and follow us on Twitter @MaristAthletics.
-GoRedFoxes.com-
