POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Brandy Gang (Hartville, Ohio) tied her career-high with 20 points, which led all scorers, in leading four players in double figures as the Marist women's basketball team defeated Siena 75-51 Sunday afternoon in the Red Foxes' Play 4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness game.
Corielle Yarde (Reading, Pa.) scored 15 points, Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y.) had 13 and Kelsey Beynnon (Burlington, Vt.) finished with 10 to go along with six rebounds. Casey Dulin (Milford, Conn.) tied her career-high with seven assists, grabbed a team-high seven boards and had three steals, as did Beynnon and Gang. Marist shot 48% from the floor and only committed 11 turnovers while the defense made 13 steals and forced Siena into 21 mistakes. The Red Foxes outscored the Saints 26-5 in points scored off of turnovers.
Things started strong for Marist (18-7, 13-1 MAAC) as four different players hit layups on the Red Foxes' first five possessions. Meanwhile, the defense made three steals and forced Siena (8-15, 6-8 MAAC) into an 0-3 start from the field, as Marist jumped out to an 8-0 lead just two and a half minutes into the game.
The Saints closed within three at 13-10, but the Red Foxes answered right back with a 16-5 run of their own to open a double-digit lead at 29-15 with 6:48 left. Gang started it all by scoring seven straight points. She first hit a pair free throws before converting a layup off of a feed from Natalie Gomez (Andover, Mass.). After a three-pointer by Siena, Gang answered with one of her own. Kristina Danella (Manalapan, N.J.), Beynnon, Gomez and Emma O'Connor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) all hit baskets to finish the run.
A bucket at the buzzer brought Siena to within ten points at 37-27 at halftime. Gang led all scorers with 13 points. Beynnon had six points and Dulin already had four assists and three steals. Ockenden also had two blocks.
Yarde opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers to open the second half to quickly extend their lead to 43-27.
After Siena closed within 11 at 47-36, Marist scored 11 of the next 14 points to put themselves into cruise control at 58-39. Beynnon started the streak with a layup and Yarde added two lay-ins of her own, surrounding an Ockenden jumper. Gang hit another three-pointer to bring the Red Foxes' lead to 19.
Another 10-2 run is all that Marist would need put the game well out of hand. Gang scored the first four points on a layup and two more free throws. Ockenden, Yarde and Dulin all hit layups to bring the lead to 69-47 with 4:02 left to play.
The Red Foxes will make their Buffalo trip next weekend playing at Canisius on Friday night and Niagara Sunday afternoon. They will play their final home game of the season next Thursday, Feb. 23 against Iona. Marist will honor their five seniors prior to the game in its Senior Day ceremony.
Notes - Marist is on a 29-game home winning streak against MAAC opponents... Siena leads the all-time series between the two teams 28-22, but the Red Foxes have now won 17 straight matchups... Head Coach Brian Giorgis is 17-5 in his career against the Saints.
