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Photo of women's basketball captain Willow Duffell shooting a jumper against Niagara in 2020.
William Carpenter
66
Winner Marist Marist 9-2,7-2 MAAC
60
Niagara Niag 1-2,1-2 MAAC
Winner
Marist Marist
9-2,7-2 MAAC
66
Final
60
Niagara Niag
1-2,1-2 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Marist Marist 6 14 20 15 11 66
Niagara Niag 15 11 6 23 5 60

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Connor Giblin

Marist Captures Overtime Win At Niagara

Willow Duffell Scores 23 Of Career-Best 27 Points After Half

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, New York – Senior captain Willow Duffell scored a career-high 27 points, freshman forward Zaria Demember-Shazer added 10 points, and Marist won a 66-60 overtime thriller over Niagara on Friday afternoon from the Gallagher Center.
 
The Red Foxes improve to 9-2 on the season, and 7-2 in MAAC play. The Purple Eagles fall to 1-2 this season with an identical conference record.
 
Duffell scored 23 of her points after halftime, including seven in the extra period. Niagara ended regulation on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 55. The Harriman, NY native opened the scoring in overtime with a lunging layup from the right block off the pass from sophomore guard Trinasia Kennedy.
 
With Marist leading 58-57 near the midpoint of the frame, Kennedy drilled a left-corner three-pointer to put the Red Foxes up by four. The Purple Eagles got as close as 62-60, but Duffell hit five free throws to end the game for the Red Foxes.
 
Senior captain Allie Best led the team with eight rebounds, and picked up her 300th career assist in the victory. Demember-Shazer paced Marist with four helpers.
 
Ally Haar led three Purple Eagles in double figures with 16 points. Angel Parker (11 points) and Olivia Mason (10 points) also reached that mark.
Highlights
  • Marist struggled out of the gate with just two buckets on nine shots and nine turnovers in the first quarter, but only trailed 15-6 after the frame.
  • The Red Foxes started the second on a 10-2 run, featuring a corner three-pointer from freshman guard Emma Wax that helped Marist pull within 17-16.
  • Kyra Grimshaw and Valentina Pepic converted layups to push Niagara's edge back to five with 4:08 left in the half.
  • Marist got to within three points on two occasions, the latter time on junior guard Kendall Krick's jumper just inside the arc at the 2:34 mark, but Ally Haar completed a conventional three-point play to hand the Purple Eagles a 26-20 halftime lead.
  • Duffell opened the third quarter with four quick points in the paint, prompting a Purple Eagle timeout just 1:45 into the stanza.
  • Freshman forward Caitlin Weimar's left block layup tied the game at 26 a minute later. Duffell's free throws gave Marist its first lead of the game two possessions later.
  • In the final 5:24 of the quarter, Marist went on a 12-4 run, with four points coming on two layups from freshman guard Anabel Ellison. Marist sported a 40-32 advantage heading into the fourth.
  • Niagara scored the first four points in the fourth, but Best's straightaway three and Duffell's layup gave Marist its largest lead of the day at 45-36 with 2:23 down.
  • Demember-Shazer hit 10 points with 2:28 remaining to make it 51-43 Marist, but Haar hit consecutive threes to trim the Purple Eagle deficit.
  • Parker scored the final four points of regulation, including a driving layup with two seconds to go to induce bonus basketball.
stats
  • After going just 8-for-25 from the field in the first two quarters, The Red Foxes shot 59 percent the rest of the way, and finished with a 46.2 percent clip.
  • Niagara shot 34.4 percent on the day.
  • Both teams combined for 55 turnovers, though Marist had a season-high 14 steals in the process.
  • The Red Foxes collected 21 points off turnovers, compared to 18 for the Purple Eagles.
  • Forty of Marist's 66 points came in the paint.
  • The Red Foxes got 17 points from the bench.
notes
  • Duffell's previous career-high came 18 days ago at Quinnipiac. This was the first game in her career with at least 20 points, and the seventh game this year where she's scored 10-plus points.
  • Best is the second Red Fox in the previous two seasons to eclipse the 300-assist mark. Grace Vander Weide, who is third all-time in assists at Marist, hit the milestone last year. Best is now 20 assists away from entering the top 10 on the Red Foxes' all-time list.
  • This is the first time since 2018-19 that three different Red Foxes scored 25 or more points in a game during the season. Before Duffell, Kennedy, and junior guard Sarah Barcello did so this year, Vander Weide, Alana Gilmer, and Rebekah Hand achieved the feat.
  • Marist wins in overtime for the first time since an 87-82 triumph vs. Old Dominion on November 24th, 2013.
  • The Red Foxes improve to 36-15 all-time against the Purple Eagles, boosting their winnings streak in the series to five games. Marist has not lost at Niagara since January 31st, 2010.
 
up next
  • The two squads rematch on Saturday, January 23rd at 4 p.m. in Western New York.
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