POUGHKEEPSIE, New York -Â Redshirt senior captain
Alana Gilmer tied a career-high with 30 points, and Marist Women's Basketball fended off Quinnipiac 73-60 in a rematch of the last two MAAC Championship finals on Thursday evening at McCann Arena.
The Red Foxes improve their MAAC record to 6-1 and are now 13-3 on the season. The Bobcats drop to 4-3 in conference and 7-9 overall.
Gilmer got it going with nine points in the first 10 minutes of the game, but four Quinnipiac three-pointers kept the Marist lead to only one after the first quarter. However, the Red Fox defense forced the Bobcats to shoot 0-5 from beyond the arc in the second frame, outscoring the visitors 19-12 for a 38-30 advantage at halftime.
Quinnipiac went on an 8-2 run at the end of the third to make it 53-48 Marist, but Gilmer opened the fourth with three-consecutive buckets to pad the lead to 59-48. Quinnipiac got to within seven thanks to a quick 6-0 run, but the Red Foxes responded with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a layup from redshirt senior captain
Grace Vander Weide, to go up 68-54.
Gilmer ended up shooting 14-25 from the field. Her 14 makes are tied for seventh-most in a single game, and fall one shy of the single-game program record. Vander Weide posted 11 rebounds and seven assists, while senior captain
Rebekah Hand recorded 13 points.
Shaq Edwards led the Bobcats with 13 points; she was one of four Quinnipiac players in double figures.
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- Marist took its first lead at 7-6 when Vander Weide connected on a second-chance putback with 6:24 left in the first half.
- Quinnipiac tied it at 11, but Vander Weide found redshirt junior forward Molly Smith on the left wing for a three-pointer to take back the edge.
- In the first couple minutes of the second, Rebekah Hand nailed the catch-and-shoot jumper off an inbound pass from Vander Weide to put Marist up 23-20.
- Junior forward Willow Duffell went up-and-under for the layup at the 6:51 mark to give Marist its largest lead at that point, 27-22.
- She later drilled a hook shot with 2:52 until halftime to put Marist on top 36-26.
- Rebekah Hand made a layup as part of an eventual 8-0 run to extend Marist's advantage to 45-32 with 6:49 to play in the third, forcing a Bobcat timeout.
- Midway through the fourth, Quinnipiac's 6-0 run came through four foul shots, forcing a Marist timeout with the score 61-54 in favor of the Red Foxes.
- Mikala Morris notch consecutive baskets for the Bobcats, but junior guard Allie Best iced the game with a straightaway triple to push the advantage to 71-58 with 1:50 to play.
- As a team, Marist shot 53.3 percent, while Quinnipiac was a scant 35.3 percent.
- The Bobcats were just 4-15 from the field in the fourth quarter, and 1-6 from downtown in the second half.
- Gilmer was the only player to eclipse 15 points.
- Seven of Vander Weide's 11 boards were offensive rebounds, a season-high. Her seven assists led all players.
- Marist held the edge in assists (16-9) and rebounds (37-36).
- Quinnipiac's starters shot a combined 18-51.
- Marist recorded 40 of its 73 points in the paint, and outscored the Bobcats in second-change points 16-13.
- Gilmer's 14 field goals tie her with Diesa Seidal (2/4/2000 vs. Manhattan) and Lori Keys (1/7/1995) for seventh-most in a game. Her 25 attempts are also tied for seventh-most in a single contest.
- She also became the eighth Red Fox to reach 500 field goals in a Marist uniform.
- Vander Weide passes Lynne Griffin to move into sixth place all-time with 356 career Marist assists.
- Rebekah Hand is now eighth all-time with 692Â career rebounds, leaping over Corielle Yarde.
- With a pair of treys, Smith is now shooting 44 percent from three-point range this season.
- This is Marist's first win over Quinnipiac since December 3, 2015.
- Marist travels to New Jersey for a rematch with Monmouth on Saturday, January 25 at 2 p.m.
