POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist women's basketball team defeated Elon by a score of 63-55 at McCann Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Marist trailed by as much as 10 in the first quarter, but the Red Foxes scored the final 11 points of the first half, and took a 35-23 lead to the locker room. The Phoenix closed to within three in the final minute, but Marist went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the last 30 seconds.
Rebekah Hand led all scorers with 22 points. Hand became the third player in program history to eclipse the 1,500-point milestone in the contest.
Marist has started 3-0 for the third time in its Division I history. Kayla Liles led Elon (2-1) with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
- Elon jumped out to a 6-0 edge in the first 1:23 of the game to force a Marist timeout.
- Marist later trailed 14-4 in the first, but sophomore Kendall Krick drilled a three-pointer, and Hand delivered two layups to cut the deficit to 16-11 after 10 minutes.
- Krick gave the Red Foxes their first lead of the afternoon on a left-wing trey 2:05 into the second.
- With the score 24-23 Marist at the 3:49 mark of the second quarter, Marist turned five Elon fouls into seven made free throws as part of its 13-1 run to end the first half.
- Hand's 1,500th point came when she slipped through a backdoor cut and converted on a pass from junior Allie Best.
- The Red Foxes increased its advantage to 14, the largest lead of the day, early in the third when sophomore Sarah Barcello nabbed an offensive rebound off her shot and sank the right-handed hook.
- Redshirt senior Alana Gilmer buried a turnaround jumper inside the paint, and Best buried a 19-foot shot after to make it 45-32 with 2:48 left in the third, forcing a Phoenix timeout.
- Elon went on an extended 16-4 run in the fourth quarter, punctuated by a Jada Graves layup with 2:12 remaining.
- Junior Willow Duffell broke the run with a 10-footer just outside the left block off a pass from Rebekah Hand.
- Marist's three captains accounted for the final eight foul shots to pad the Red Fox lead.
- Redshirt senior Grace Vander Weide was the other Red Fox in double figures with 12 points. Gilmer posted nine points and a team-high six rebounds.
- Marist's bench was a combined +49 on the floor, led by Krick's +17 in 16:09.
- The Red Foxes shot 46 and 50 percent in the second and third quarter, respectively.
- Marist went 24-29 from the charity stripe, good for 83 percent.
- Elon was limited to 34 percent shooting, including just 20 percent from deep.
- Both teams posted 35 rebounds and 15 turnovers.
- For the first time in its Division I history, Marist has started 3-0 in consecutive seasons. The program started 5-0 a year ago.
- Rebekah Hand joins Rachele Fitz and Ursula Winter as the only Red Foxes to reach 1,500 points.
- She also notched her 500th career field goal, becoming the seventh Red Fox to achieve the feat.
- The 55 points allowed is a season low for Marist's defense, who have held all three opponents to under 40 percent shooting.
- Marist is now 2-0 all-time against Elon, picking up the first win at McCann Arena against the Phoenix.
- 11 year-old Maddie Clements of Red Hook, NY was the honorary guest coach. Clements has juvenile dermatomyositis, an autoimmune disease she shares with Krick. For more information about JDM, please visit curejm.org.
- Marist will return to action in the MAAC/ASUN Challenge in Kissimmee, FL.
- The Red Foxes will face North Florida on Friday, November 22 at Noon, and Lipscomb on Saturday, November 23 at Noon.
