POUGHKEEPSIE, New York - The Marist women's basketball team defeated Temple by a score of 74-68 on Sunday afternoon at McCann Arena. With the win, the program matches their best-ever season-opening winning streak.
 

GAME SUMMARY

• Junior guard Rebekah Hand started off the scoring with a 3-pointer to set the tone for the game. Temple's Alliya Butts immediately answered back with a three of her own.
• The Owls were strong in the opening quarter, opening up 4-of-4 from the field.
• After five lead changes in the opening period, Temple led 21-18 after the first 10 minutes.
• Marist went on their first scoring run of the day in the second quarter to reclaim the lead 32-30, shooting 4-of-4 from three point range.
• The Red Foxes ended the half up 37-33, shooting 6-for-11 from 3 in the opening 20 minutes.
• Marist's 9-0 run early in the second half enabled the Red Foxes to take their largest lead at 51-41. Temple never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
• The Owls came within four points three times in the final 30 seconds, but Hand went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 25 seconds to preserve the victory.

 

KEY STATS

• Rebekah Hand and Temple's Mia Davis led all scorers with 28 points each.
• All nine players who saw the floor for Marist had a field goal.
• Red-shirt junior forward Alana Gilmer was the other Red Fox in double digits with 14.
• Marist was strong from distance, making 7-of-17 three-pointers for a .412 three-point percentage. 
• Temple turned the ball over 16 times compared to Marist's 10.
• Marist's bench was strong once again, contributing 17 points to the win to Temple's nine.

 

GAME NOTES

• Marist's opening 3-0 equals the record-start from the 2008-09 season. The Red Foxes would make program history with a 4-0 start.
• The Red Foxes are now 2-3 with Temple all-time.
• After the win, Rebekah Hand has recorded 999 career points for Marist. Maura Fitzpatrick is not far from quadruple digits as well with 968.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Tremendous win for the program. We haven;t had a win like this in a while. It's especially important for our young kids who are now upperclassmen," remarked head coach Brian Giorgis. "Temple is a great, very dynamic team.They've given us a lot of trouble in the past. I'm proud of these girls, they're really close-knit and they work hard. Now they have a day to enjoy the win and then we will head on our trip to compete against some top mid-major programs."
 

UP NEXT

Women's basketball will head to Nashville, Tennessee for the Challenge In Music City tournament over Thanksgiving Weekend. There, the Red Foxes will face Stetson (Friday, Nov. 23, 1 p.m. Eastern), Hofstra (Saturday, Nov. 24, 3:30 p.m. Eastern), and Wright State (Sunday, Nov. 25, 3:30 p.m. Eastern).