ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Exactly 364 days since the 2019-20 Marist Women's Basketball program won its MAAC Quarterfinal contest before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the rest of the tournament, the Red Foxes resume their quest to capture the 11th MAAC title in program history with the 2021 Hercules Tires MAAC Women's Basketball Championships at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
No. 1 Marist opens up the MAAC Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 9 Siena on Wednesday, March 10th at Noon. With a victory, the Red Foxes would advance to the MAAC Semifinals for the 16th time in 17 seasons, and would face the winner of No. 4 Fairfield and No. 5 Manhattan on Friday, March 12th at 11 a.m.
- Wednesday's game airs on ESPN+, beginning at the top of the hour.
- Live statistics are available via the MAAC. Wednesday's game can be found using the link above, while any subsequent statistics links are on the schedule page for the program.
- @MaristWBB on Twitter and Instagram will provide live updates throughout the game.
- The Red Foxes are 40-12 all-time in the MAAC Championships. All 40 wins have come under Head Coach Brian Giorgis, who has a 40-7 record in the postseason.
- This is the 10th time that the Red Foxes are the No. 1 seed in the MAAC Tournament. Marist is 24-1 in the tourney all-time as the top seed.
- The only loss came against Canisius in the 2005 Championship game, the first year the Red Foxes were No. 1. Since then, Marist has won 23 straight tournament games as the top seed.
- In 2020, No. 2 Marist defeated No. 10 Monmouth 68-44 in the MAAC Quarterfinals on March 11th. The Red Foxes were prepared to face No. 3 Fairfield in the Semifinals before the cancellation.
- Senior captain Willow Duffell has played in seven MAAC Tournament games, averaging 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor.
- In just four postseason contests, junior guard Sarah Barcello sports a 52.3 percent shooting clip, which increases to 60 percent from three, in 26 minutes per game.
- Despite losing 75 percent of the team's scoring from 2019-20, the Red Foxes went 15-3 in the regular season and 13-3 in MAAC play to capture the 13th MAAC regular season championship in program history.
- Marist started the year 5-0 for the third straight season, tied for the best start to a year in program history.
- Marist defeated every MAAC opponent they faced at least once, and swept five conference foes.
- Entering the week, Marist is a MAAC-best 115 in the NCAA's NET rankings.
- Marist's prominent starting five of Allie Best, Trinasia Kennedy, Sarah Barcello, Willow Duffell, and Caitlin Weimar went 11-1 in the regular season.
- Duffell was named to the All-MAAC First Team for the first time in her career after receiving Preseason All-MAAC Third Team accolades.
- Barcello and sophomore guard Trinasia Kennedy were selected to the All-MAAC Third Team.
- For Barcello, it is her first postseason honor outside of her MAAC All-Championship nomination in 2019.
- Kennedy racks up her first MAAC honor in her sophomore campaign.
- Freshman forward Caitlin Weimar was a unanimous pick for the MAAC All-Rookie Team after winning five MAAC Rookie of the Week awards.
- On Wednesday morning, the conference will announce the major awards. Duffell and Weimar are eligible for MAAC Player and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
- Head Coach Brian Giorgis is up for MAAC Coach of the Year.
- No. 9 Siena defeated No. 8 Niagara 74-65 in the opening round on March 9th.
- Isis Young paced the Saints with 26 points and four assists, while Rayshel Brown dropped 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
- Siena was 3-8 in the regular season, with an identical conference record. The three wins included a sweep of Rider and a three-point win at Quinnipiac.
- Marist leads the all-time series against Siena 39-31. Thirty-three of those victories have been by double figures, including 32 of the last 34 dating back to 2005.
- The Red Foxes swept the regular season 69-44 and 60-44 on February 13th and 14th, respectively. Weimar snagged 17 boards in the first contest, while Duffell notched a double-double in the series finale. Young did not play in the series for the Saints.
- In the MAAC Tournament, Marist last played Siena in 2018. The second-seeded Foxes downed the third-ranked Saints 67-51 in the semifinals. Duffell notched 11 rebounds in that game, while Best posted five points.
- The Red Foxes are 4-1 against the Saints in the MAAC Championships, having won four straight.
- Siena – Each team has one win against one another in a quarterfinal matchup: Marist in 2014, and Siena in 2003.
