Editor's Note: As a tribute to head coach Brian Giorgis' 21 years at Marist, we will highlight one milestone win of his career each week over a 21-week span. Giorgis' final home game as the Red Foxes' head coach will be Feb. 25, 2023 against Niagara. The game is set for a 2 p.m. tip, with a ceremony to follow afterward.
Week One: Giorgis' First Win | Week Two: First Regular-Season Title | Week Three: '04 MAAC Championship |Week Four: '06 MAAC Championship | Week Five: '07 MAAC Championship
 
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – By the time the Marist women's basketball team reached the 2007 NCAA Tournament, Brian Giorgis' first recruiting class was only a couple months away from graduation.
 
Alisa Kresge, Shannon Minter, Kristin Hein, and Mary Alice Duff were freshmen in the 2003-04 season, when the "Why Not Us?" Red Foxes won their first MAAC championship.
 
"Why Not Us?" was about to be taken to a whole new level.
 
Expectations are a byproduct of success. The 2007 MAAC championship was Marist's third in four years. The Red Foxes were no longer just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament. They wanted more and were in search of a signature victory against a power conference foe.
 
There had been several good moments in recent years, just not wins. Marist had a season-low seven turnovers in a home game against Auburn in 2003. The Red Foxes threw a late scare into Oklahoma in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Marist led Georgia late in the first half at the McCann Center in 2004. The Red Foxes trailed by just one early in the second half at UConn in the 2005-06 season opener. A home-and-home with Villanova produced a four-point home loss and overtime road loss.
 
Anticipation was abundant as the Red Foxes gathered at Shadows on the Hudson in Poughkeepsie for their NCAA selection show party on March 12, 2007. They were excited by the results of the evening for a few reasons:
 

• Seed: At #13, it topped the #14 of the Red Foxes' two prior NCAA appearances.
• Draw: Fourth-seeded Ohio State brought smiles to the faces of Ohio natives Rachele Fitz, Lynzee Johnson, Courtney Kolesar, and Sarah Smrdel. The Red Foxes were in the Dayton Regional, so if they could reach the Sweet Sixteen, party at Lynzee's!
• Location: Stanford. This program always appreciated a plane ride and warm-weather site in March.

 
The Buckeyes were ranked #5 in the Associated Press poll, and #7 in the USA Today/Coaches' Poll, and featured 6-foot-5 Jessica Davenport, the three-time Big 10 Player of the Year. So how is this a #4 seed, you ask? There was some uncertainty following a season-ending injury to star guard Brandie Hoskins, who averaged 14.3 points per game.
 
This was a marquee first-round match-up. Ohio State was 28-3. Marist was 27-4. The 55 combined wins represented the highest combined total of any NCAA first-round game in 2007. In an oral history on the Red Foxes' run in '07, Kresge described the journey out west as a "business trip." As the game unfolded, it was clear the Red Foxes were ready to get down to business.
 
Ohio State got off to a quick start, but Marist settled in. The Red Foxes took their first lead on a bucket by Rachele Fitz at the 8:56 mark of the first half. The Buckeyes went on a 7-0 run late in the half, but a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Julianne Viani cut the Red Foxes' deficit to 34-30 after 20 minutes.
 
The momentum did not swing to the Red Foxes immediately. Ohio State's lead reached a game high of eight just 1:23 into the second half, but Marist remained undeterred. The Buckeyes had a stretch of six consecutive made field goals, but Smrdel kept the Red Foxes close with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. She scored eight points in a stretch of 2:43.
 
Midway through the second half, the Red Foxes tied the score at 49 on a jumper by Fitz. Viani's three-pointer on Marist's next possession gave Marist its first lead of the second half – one they would maintain the rest of the way, despite a late Ohio State charge.
 
Marist's lead reached a game high of eight with 1:02 left. A frenetic final minute brought Ohio State to within two, but Nikki Flores iced the game by draining two free throws in the final seconds.
 
Marist 67, Ohio State 63. The heroes were numerous:
 

• Viani, who shot 6-for-10 from three-point range, scored a game-high 24 points.
• Playing in her first NCAA Tournament game, Fitz scored 16 points.
• Smrdel delivered 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
• Flores went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and scored seven.
• Consummate floor general Kresge had eight assists, four rebounds, three steals, and three points. She never came out of the game, and provided key help defense on Davenport
• The stat sheet will show that Meg Dahlman produced seven points, four steals, one rebound, and one assist. The impact she had on the game was phenomenal. Dahlman was the primary defender on Davenport, and the Ohio State star had 11 turnovers and 13 points (seven under her average). Dahlman was forced to leave the game after a collision which resulted in her head hitting the floor. She was cleared by Stanford's medical team and said she "got more tired doing the clearance drills than I did during the game."
• Giorgis turned in a masterpiece. In addition to devising a game plan that neutralized Davenport, he ran a late game out of bounds play that he said he ran "twice in his career." Flores was guarded by Davenport, who had a distinct height advantage. She passed to Kresge on the baseline, who then inbounded it to Flores, who was able to elude Davenport, get fouled, and drain key free throws. Flores said they hadn't practiced the play, but Giorgis trusted they would execute it correctly.

 
The biggest win in program history brought the Red Foxes to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. As we've said often the last few weeks, the best was truly yet to come.
 

Fun Fact

Davenport was the #2 pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft. She played six years in the league and won a championship with the Indiana Fever in 2012.
 

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How sweet it is!