POUGHKEEPSIE, New York -Â Senior captain
Rebekah Hand recorded 25 points, seven rebounds, and six assists to lead five Red Foxes in double figures as Marist overwhelmed Saint Peter's 96-76 on Saturday night at McCann Arena.Â
The 96 points are a season-high for the Red Foxes, and the fourth-most during Head Coach
Brian Giorgis' tenure. Marist has won four straight to improve to 9-2, with a 2-0 MAAC record. The Peacocks fall in their conference opener and for the fifth-consecutive time, bringing their record to 3-7.Â
Saint Peter's started off strong offensively, hitting eight of its first 10 shots and racing out to a 14-4 lead. However, the Red Foxes brought the deficit to 27-25 at the end of a high-octane first quarter. Marist took its first lead of the game with 3:43 until halftime, when redshirt senior captain
Grace Vander Weide canned a shot in the paint to make it 37-35. Vander Weide finished with a double-double at 10 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.
Redshirt senior captain
Alana Gilmer began the third quarter with a midrange jumper for her first of 13 points in the second half as Marist outscored Saint Peter's 47-35 in the final 20 minutes. Gilmer totaled 19 points on eight-of-15 shooting.
Sophomore guard
Sarah Barcello added 11 points, while freshman
Trinasia Kennedy scored a career-high 10 points for Marist.
Taiah Thorton tallied 23 points to lead four Peacocks in double digits.
- The Peacocks early start was in part to a 10-0 run through the first 3:43 of the affair.
- Marist responded with freshman Samantha Bailey's first-career field goal. Kennedy then intercepted the inbound and swished a layup to make it 14-8.
- The Red and White ended the first quarter hitting nine of their final 11 shots, with four coming from redshirt junior forward Molly Smith and threes from Rebekah Hand and junior guard Allie Best.
- A Gilmer jump-step layup was the first of three ties in the second quarter.
- The Red Foxes went on an extended 14-2 run late in the frame, with Barcello and Kennedy draining triples.
- In the third quarter, Gilmer had a no-look pass to a cutting Vander Weide to give Marist a 57-45 lead.
- At the 5:34 mark, Rebekah Hand drilled a left-wing three-pointer, the 200th of her career, for Marist's largest lead at the time, 63-47.
- Gilmer's jumper 1:03 into the fourth sparked a span where the Red and White buried five consecutive shots over 2:30, which put the edge to 81-64.
- Senior guard Hannah Hand's layup with 35 seconds to play made it 96-74, serving as the largest advantage of the night.Â
- In addition to the season-best effort on the scoreboard, Marist set season-highs with 40 baskets, a 53.3 field goal percentage, and 26 assists.
- The Red Foxes tallied 62 points in the paint, 25 bench points, and 22 points off turnovers.
- In all, 11 Marist players scored, and all 14 found time on the floor.
- Rebounds favored the Foxes 40-28.
- Vander Weide's 11 rebounds led the team, while she and Rebekah Hand tied for the top spot with six assists.Â
- Gilmer, Rebekah Hand, and junior forward Willow Duffell each had two steals, as Marist tied its season-high with 10 swipes.
- Saint Peter's' leading scorer Kendrea Williams, coming into the game averaging 15.4 points per game, did not score and fouled out in under 12 minutes of action.
- Rebekah Hand becomes the fifth Red Fox ever to reach 200 career three-pointers.
- In addition, she moved into a tie with Mary Jo Stempsey for 10th place all-time in career rebounds with 665.
- Vander Weide finished the game ninth all-time with 317 assists, surpassing Elise Caron.
- Gilmer is now 10th all-time in career field goals at Marist with 459.
- Marist eclipsed 95 points for the first time since a 100-81 triumph over Quinnipiac on February 14, 2014.
- The Red Foxes have won five-straight over Saint Peter's and are 35-17 in the all-time series.
- The team signed autographed to fans after the game, which served as CYO Night.
- The Red Foxes return to action at Canisius (2-9, 1-1 MAAC) on Thursday, January 9 at 11 a.m. in the first game of their annual Buffalo road trip.
