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 | Week Six: First NCAA Tournament Win | Week Seven: Red Foxes Reach Sweet Sixteen | Week Eight: '08 MAAC Championship
 
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – On the one-year anniversary of the Marist women's basketball team's first NCAA Tournament victory, it was evident how much the program's national profile had grown over the previous 366 days.
 
As the Red Foxes headed to Shadows on the evening of March 17, 2008 for their NCAA selection show gathering, it was possible that the previous year's Cinderella could be a first-round favorite this time around.
 
The previous year, Marist entered the NCAA Tournament as a #13 seed, its best in program history, and then embarked on its run to the Sweet Sixteen. The Red Foxes entered the 2008 NCAA Tournament with a 31-2 record, a 21-game winning streak that extended over three months, high-profile non-conference victories, and a national ranking of #22 in both major polls.
 
The Red Foxes' resume was boosted by their wins over eventual NCAA Tournament teams Utah and Nebraska at the Oahu Classic over Thanksgiving Weekend. Marist's only two regular-season losses came to Ohio State and Hartford, both of which were also tournament-bound.
 
Indeed, the Red Foxes were packing both their red and white jerseys for their trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Marist earned a #7 seed and would wear the home whites in round one against #10 DePaul on March 22. Head coach Doug Bruno had guided the Blue Demons to a 20-11 record with an 8-8 mark in Big East play. Allie Quigley, a two-time Honorable Mention All-American and career 2,000-point scorer, led DePaul with 19.5 points per game.
 
The first half included seven lead changes and five ties, but DePaul's six-point halftime lead at 37-31 was the largest in the game to that point. The Blue Demons took their momentum into the second half, as their lead soared to 13 with 14:13 remaining.
 
With 12:48 to go, head coach Brian Giorgis made a three-player substitution, as Lynzee Johnson, Sarah Smrdel, and Elise Caron joined Rachele Fitz and Julianne Viani on the floor. A layup by Taylor Pikes seven seconds later increased DePaul's lead to 55-44. But this game was about to swing dramatically in the Red Foxes' favor.
 
The Caron-Viani-Johnson-Fitz-Smrdel quintet shut out DePaul for over four minutes. A pair of free throws by Fitz with 11:46 remaining cut the deficit to nine. Smrdel, who consistently made big plays off the bench in postseason play, hit a three on Marist's next possession. Then Viani took over. She drained three three-pointers in 98 seconds, and suddenly the Red Foxes had a three-point lead with 8:55 to play.
 
With 8:30 to play, a layup by Caprice Smith cut Marist's lead to one. The Red Foxes literally slammed the door after that. One could say they locked and deadbolted it, too, as they shut DePaul out the rest of the way and forced the Blue Demons to miss their final 15 shots. Quigley, who led the Blue Demons with 15 points, was held to 6-for-19 from the field.
 
Marist scored the game's last 18 points. Six came from Fitz, who scored a game-high 23 while going 10-for-13 from the field. Four came from Caron, who finished with six points, five assists, and no turnovers over 20 minutes in her first NCAA Tournament game. The final points were scored on a layup by senior Alexis Waters, and the Red Foxes had a 76-57 triumph for their third NCAA Tournament win in two years.
 
The Red Foxes closed the game on a 32-2 run, which improved their record to 32-2 on March 22.
 
Happy 3-2-2 day to all who celebrate!
 

Round Two

The Red Foxes' winning streak had reached 22, which was the nation's longest as they entered their second round match-up with second-seeded LSU. The Tigers featured SEC Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles, who stood 6-foot-6, and won the conference's regular-season championship.
 
This was Marist's seventh NCAA Tournament game in program history, and the first that was a true road game. LSU led by as much as 10 in the first half, but Viani scored eight points in the final 2:44 of the half, and Marist's deficit was 29-27 after the first 20 minutes.
 
The teams went back-and-forth early in the second half, and Marist still trailed by just two after Meg Dahlman's bucket with 17:10 remaining. However, the Tigers then held the Red Foxes scoreless for nearly five minutes as their lead ran to double digits. Despite a game-high 21 points from Viani, Marist's season came to an end with a 68-49 LSU victory. Fowles finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and became the SEC's all-time leading rebounder that night.
 

Fun Facts

• Marist finished the 2007-08 season ranked #23 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
• Marist #7 seed remains its best in program history, and the Red Foxes' 32 wins are still a program record.
• LSU went on to reach the Final Four, where the Tigers suffered a 47-46 defeat to Tennessee in the national semifinals.
• Sylvia Fowles, who was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team, was the #2 overall selection in the 2008 WNBA Draft. She retired this past summer after a 15-year WNBA career with the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx that included eight All-Star appearances, four Defensive Player of the Year awards, two championships, and the 2017 MVP award.
• Allie Quigley has also enjoyed a 15-year WNBA career that has included three All-Star appearances and a 2021 championship with the Chicago Sky. She is the first player to win four Three-Point Contests in WNBA or NBA history.

 

Coming Up Next

Major milestones are achieved in another MAAC championship season.