LEWISTON, New York – The Marist women's basketball trailed big early but fought back to hold on for an 84-78 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles Friday night at the Gallagher Center.
 
Rebekah Hand (22), Maura Fitzpatrick (21), and Alana Gilmer (21) combined for 64 of the Red Foxes 84 points in the victory. With the win, the Red Foxes improve to 11-10 overall and 7-2 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. The loss drops Niagara to 8-12 overall and 5-4 in the MAAC.

SUMMARY

• The Purple Eagles got off to a hot 15-4 start on the strength of five forced turnovers from the Red Foxes forcing Marist to take a timeout with 5:02 to go in the quarter.
• A once 17 point lead at 29-12, Niagara's largest of the game, was cut down to 11 after back-to-back threes from the Red Foxes in the final minute of the first.
• Alana Gilmer's layup with 2:39 to go in the half would give the Red Foxes their first lead of the game and Marist would hold on to that lead until the fourth.
• Niagara regained the lead with six minutes left at 67-66 before Alana Gilmer's paint jumper took the lead right back.
• A steal from Rebekah Hand and then a fast break layup broke a tie and gave Marist the lead for good with just under two minutes remaining, 76-74
• With the game in the balance, a huge offensive rebound from Grace Vander Weide led to Niagara having to foul Gilmer. Gilmer then knocked down both freebies during her trip to the line and gave the Red Foxes an 80-76 lead with 17.8 seconds to go.

KEY STATS

• The Red Foxes would finish the game shooting over 50% from the field, over 40% from three, and over 90% from the foul line.
• Both teams combined to miss just one free throw as the Red Foxes went 17-for-18 from the stripe and Niagara went a perfect 8-for-8 from the line.
• After turning it over five times in the first five minutes the Red Foxes would turn it over 13 times the remainder of the game.
• The Red Foxes assisted on 22 of their 30 made baskets and five players had four or more assists in the game.
• After the lead changed hands just once in the first three quarters, it would change four times in the final period.

 
GAME NOTES

• 20 point games for Fitzpatrick, Gilmer, and Hand were the 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th 20 point games of the season for Marist.
• Maura Fitzpatrick's 20 point game was her second consecutive.
• The Red Foxes are now 4-0 when shooting over 50% from the field and 6-0 when scoring over 80 points.
• Hand, Gilmer, and Fitzpatrick all scoring over 20 points is the first instance of such since the 2014-15 season.
• Marist handed Niagara its first conference home loss of the season.

 
UP NEXT
Marist will continue its stretch of three games on the road in one week and conclude its annual Buffalo trip against Canisius on Sunday, January 28^th. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.