ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – The top-seeded Marist women's basketball team defeated ninth-seeded Siena, 63-55, in the quarterfinal round of the Hercules Tires Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Wednesday afternoon.
The Red Foxes trailed by 11 early in the second quarter, but outscored the Saints 39-10 in a span of 15:30 between the second and third quarters. The efforts of
Sarah Barcello were key to several Marist runs, and she led all scorers with 20.
- A basket by Willow Duffell, followed by a three-pointer from Trinasia Kennedy, staked Marist to a 5-0 lead just 44 seconds in. Siena then answered with five straight to tie the game 48 seconds later.
- Marist held an 11-9 advantage at the midway point of the first quarter, but Siena countered with a 10-0 run over a span of 2:29. This spurt included back-to-back three-pointers by Margo Peterson.
- Barcello ended the run with a layup at the 1:09 mark. Siena led 19-13 after 10 minutes.
- A Peterson three-pointer gave Siena its largest lead of 11 at the 8:15 mark of the second quarter.
- Marist outscored Siena 16-4 over the final 5:55 of the second quarter. Barcello had 10 points in that span, and her bucket in the waning seconds gave Marist a 32-30 lead going to the locker room.
- Marist opened the third quarter on an 11-2 run, which was capped by a three-pointer from Willow Duffell, and forced a Siena timeout at the 5:31 mark.
- Marist used a 9-0 run later in the third quarter to extend its lead to 19, and the Red Foxes held a 55-38 advantage after three quarters. Marist outscored Siena 23-8 in the third period.
- A 14-2 Siena run cut the Saints' deficit with 1:29 to play. On Marist's next possession, Allie Best found Duffell for a layup, and the Saints never drew any closer.
- In addition to her 20 points, Barcello's six steals were a game high, and she also hauled in five rebounds.
- Duffell finished with 14 points and a team-high 14 rebounds.
- Kennedy gave the Red Foxes a third double-digit scorer (10 points). She also stuffed the stat sheet with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
- Allie Best totaled six points, six assists (against just one turnover), and five rebounds.
- Peterson led Siena with 13 points.
- Tobulayefa Watts had 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for Siena.
- MAAC leading scorer Isis Young had 11 points for Siena, but Marist held her to 4-for-17 shooting from the field with the combination of Kennedy and Kendall Krick defending her.
- Siena committed 16 turnovers, while Marist had just nine.
- Marist is now 25-1 all-time in MAAC Championship play as the #1 seed, with 24 consecutive victories.
- Marist has now reached at least the MAAC Semifinals 17 times in head coach Brian Giorgis' 19 seasons as head coach. The Red Foxes have won at least one game in the championships in all of Giorgis' 19 seasons.
- Barcello had the second 20-point game of her career. It was her highest total in the MAAC Championships.
- Barcello's six steals doubled her previous career high of three.
- Duffell had her sixth double-double of the season, and third in her last four games.
"Credit to Siena, they came out strong, they were hitting threes all over the place," Marist head coach
Brian Giorgis told the ESPN+ crew of Eddy Occhipinti and Dianne Nolan post-game. "It was a great team win, and it's been that way all year, trying to overcome adversity."
- Marist now advances to the semifinal round of the 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Women's Basketball Championship. This semifinal game will take place at 11 a.m. Friday.
- The Red Foxes will face the winner of the quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Fairfield and fifth-seeded Manhattan, which will take place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
