POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Led by 16 points off the bench by Kristina Danella (Manalapan, N.J.), the Marist women's basketball team held off a late Fairfield charge for a 61-56 win Sunday afternoon in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game at McCann Arena. Marist moved over .500 with the win and improved to 2-0 on the MAAC.
Danella, who was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line, also had four rebounds and a block and two steals on the defensive end. As a team, Marist had 13 steals while forcing 20 Fairfield turnovers. Emma O'Connor (Lynbrook, N.Y.) joined Danella in double figures with 12 points, shooting 4-6 from the field and 3-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Casey Dulin (Milford, Conn.) had eight points and team-highs with six rebounds and five assists. She also tied Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y.) for the team lead with three steals. Ockenden finished with nine points as did freshman Sidney Coffey (New Hope, Minn.)
For the second time in as many games, was a bit slow out of the gate, falling behind 9-5 in the first five minutes. However, the Red Foxes (7-6, 2-0 MAAC) responded out of the first media timeout with an 8-0 run, holding Fairfield (7-6, 1-1 MAAC) scoreless for nearly a four minute stretch.
Dulin started the run with a driving layup to pull the Red Foxes within two. After a couple of scoreless possessions, Danella had a strong defensive effort turn into a steal and drove the floor where she made the layup while being fouled. She converted the three-point play to give Marist its first lead at 10-9. On the ensuing possession, Coffey drove down the right side of the lane, forcing a double team. She passed around the defenders to a wide-open Danella for an easy layup.
A Fairfield three-pointer cut the Marist lead to 28-25 with 1:37 left, but the Red Foxes finished the half with a 7-0 run to take a 10-point lead, 35-25, at halftime. Coffey hit a three-pointer from the corner to start the streak, and Danella followed that up with a pair of free throws. Following a Stags' turnover, Kristine Best (Commack, N.Y.) hit a mid-range jumper as the shot clock expired with three seconds left in the half to close the run.
Danella led all players at the break with 11 points while O'Connor had seven.
Fairfield began to slowly chip away at the lead in the second half. The Stags cut the deficit to five at 39-34, but again the Red Foxes responded with another run, this time scoring eight of nine points. Dulin hit a pair from the charity stripe to get things started. After a Fairfield free throw left the score at 41-35, Danella hit a three-pointer and Coffey put back an offensive rebound while being fouled and converted the three-point play, extending Marist's lead to 47-35, its largest of the afternoon.
The Stags would not go away however and converted a three-point play of their own with 3:31 remaining to pull within one at 55-54.
Both teams failed to score on their next possession and Coffey again tipped in an offensive rebound with 1:56 on the clock to bring the lead back to three at 57-54.
Fairfield's Brittany Obi-Tabot, who finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, hit a layup with 1:26 left to again pull within one.
A Dulin three-pointer was blocked on the other end and Fairfield took possession with the chance to take the lead. The Marist defense stepped up at the right time however and forced an errant pass by the Stags.
Dulin scored her biggest points of the game with 29 seconds left on a driving layup.
Fairfield missed two layups on its next possession and Elizabeth Beynnon (Burlington, Vt.) forced a jump ball with Marist owning the possession arrow.
Ockenden then hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
Marist remains at home next weekend with a pair of MAAC games. Loyola visits McCann on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest and Iona travels to Poughkeepsie on Sunday for a 2 p.m. game.
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