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. This series will run through the final week in March.
 
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 | Week Nine: '08 NCAA Tournament Win Over DePaul | Week 10: '09 MAAC Championship | Week 11: '10 MAAC Championship | Week 12: '11 MAAC Championship | Week 13: '11 NCAA Tournament Win Over Iowa State | Week 14: '12 MAAC Championship | Week 15: '12 NCAA Tournament Win Over Georgia | Week 16: '13 MAAC Championship | Week 17: Marist Defeats Oklahoma
 
 
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – In the months between Marist's appearance in the 2013 NCAA Tournament and the start of the 2013-14 season, several changes occurred across the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Numerous key figures of the last decade departed, and an addition quickly made its presence felt.
 

Megan Gebbia

What began as an impromptu conversation in the Kansas City airport turned into a dynamic pairing for 10 years. After his first season at Marist, Brian Giorgis was looking for a top assistant in the spring of 2003. Gebbia answered the call, and the Red Foxes preceded to win 264 games, nine MAAC championships, five NCAA Tournament games, and advance to a Sweet Sixteen over the next decade.
 
In the summer of 2013, Gebbia became a first-time head coach when she was hired at American. Erin Doughty moved one chair up and became Giorgis' top assistant, and Alisa Kresge moved into the second spot. Dominique Bryant was hired as the third assistant.
 

Tony Bozzella

Four weeks before Giorgis was hired at Marist, Tony Bozzella became head coach at Iona. He inherited a program that had been struggling, and while success did not come overnight, Bozzella transformed the Gaels into a consistent contender in the MAAC by his fourth season. The Gaels and Red Foxes met in the MAAC championship games in 2007, 2008, and 2013, as well as the semifinals in 2006 and 2009.
 
The problem was, the Gaels literally could not get past the Red Foxes. In his tenure at Iona, Bozzella was 0-27 against Giorgis. What was remarkable about this was the quality of teams Iona had in this time (five straight years with at least 17 wins), the number of close games the teams played (three went to overtime), and the fact the Bozzella and Giorgis maintained a genuine friendship through it all.
 
Two weeks after Marist's win over Iona in the 2013 MAAC championship game, Bozzella became head coach at his alma mater, Seton Hall.
 

MAAC Realignment

Marist and Rider joined the MAAC for the 1997-98 season, and the conference maintained the same 10 teams for the next 16 years. As the 2012-13 school year was getting underway, it was announced that Loyola would be departing for the Patriot League following the season.
 
There was also a considerable amount of history between the Greyhounds and Red Foxes. Giorgis' first MAAC game was against Loyola in 2002. His first game in the MAAC Championships, and Marist's first win in the tournament, came against Loyola at the end of that season. The Greyhounds defeated the Red Foxes in Baltimore in back-to-back years and were the only team to record a conference win against Marist in the 2006-07 Sweet Sixteen season. Loyola graduate Joe Logan was hired as head coach prior to the 2005-06 season and led the Greyhounds to MAAC finals against Marist that season and in 2011.
 
On Dec. 14, 2012, the MAAC announced the addition of two new schools for the 2013-14 school year: Quinnipiac and Monmouth. Three months later, the Bobcats made their first NCAA Division I Tournament in school history after winning 30 games and going undefeated in Northeast Conference play. They faced Maryland in the 2013 NCAA Tournament – and played the Terrapins in the game just prior to Marist facing Michigan State on the same court.
 

Regular Season

The Red Foxes' senior class of Casey Dulin, Leanne Ockenden, and Emma O'Connor were all captains and Preseason All-MAAC selections as Marist was once again the unanimous choice to win the conference. However, the challengers were growing. Bozzella left a strong nucleus for his successor at Iona, Billi Godsey (now Billi Chambers), and the Gaels were picked second. Heading into its first year in the MAAC, Quinnipiac was tabbed for third. A consistent Fairfield program was pegged to finish fourth.
 
With Marist and Quinnipiac both having undefeated conference records the previous year, particular attention was paid to the birth of a new rivalry. The Red Foxes' first MAAC game of the season was an ESPN3 contest at Quinnipiac on Dec. 6, and the return visit in Poughkeepsie was selected for ESPNU on Valentine's Day. Marist earned a 69-63 victory in the conference opener, and the Red Foxes then enjoyed their second 100-point outing of the season in a 100-81 triumph at McCann Arena on Feb. 14.
 
After a 1-4 start – which included losses top-10 Kentucky as well as Princeton and Ohio State – Marist reeled off 11 wins in a row heading into its Jan. 13 contest against Iona. The Gaels had not defeated Marist since Feb. 24, 2001, a streak that lasted 29 games and even preceded the arrival of both Giorgis and Bozzella. In her first game against Marist, Godsey walked out of a McCann Arena with a 73-71 win fueled by Damika Martinez's game-winning shot with three seconds remaining. The loss knocked Marist out of first place for the first time since Jan. 30, 2005.
 
Outside of a home loss to Fairfield on Feb. 8, the Red Foxes once again cruised through the rest of MAAC play. As was the case 10 years earlier, Marist went into its finale at Iona with a chance to win a share of the MAAC regular season crown. As was also the case a decade earlier, a Red Fox from Westchester County had a giant say in the game's outcome.
 
After being limited to one game the prior season and then recovering from an Achilles injury, Cortlandt Manor native Tori Jarosz was rounding into form. Buoyed by her first career double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds, the Red Foxes earned a 79-67 road victory and tied the Gaels for first place in the MAAC at 18-2. Although Iona would be the #1 seed in the following week's MAAC Championships, Marist had claimed a share of its 11^th straight regular season title.
 
All five Marist starters averaged at least 10 points per game:
 

• O'Connor, a First Team All-MAAC selection, led the way at 13.7. She also led the Red Foxes with 6.8 rebounds per game.
• Madeline Blais, who was named Second Team All-MAAC, averaged 13.0 with incredibly efficient shooting percentages of .534 from the field, .485 from three-point range, and .850 from the line.
• Ockenden averaged 11.7. She was named Third Team All-MAAC, and was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year.
• Sydney Coffey continued her upward trajectory by averaging 11.6.
• Dulin averaged 10.5 and led the team with 116 assists.

 

MAAC Championships

The second-seeded Red Foxes did not trail in each of their first two games, as they advanced to their 11^th straight championship game with an 87-65 quarterfinal win over Siena and a 70-59 semifinal triumph over Rider.
 
And their opponent in the final wasn't Iona.
 
In its first year in the MAAC, Quinnipiac advanced to the final after a 79-67 semifinal victory over the Gaels. In the two regular season games between the Red Foxes and Bobcats, Marist never trailed by more than two points in either. But this championship game was one of the most memorable in MAAC history.
 
In its run of 28 straight wins in the MAAC Championships, the Red Foxes only faced a double-digit deficit twice. In 2012, Marist was down 13 in the second half against Niagara. This, however, was the Red Foxes' largest deficit in their streak. A 25-2 run gave Quinnipiac a 17-point lead with 4:50 left in the first half.
 
The Red Foxes methodically chipped away. They scored the final six points of the first half to trim the deficit to 11. A three-point play by Dulin in the first minute of the second half made it eight. Three-pointer by Coffey and Ockenden on back-to-back possessions cut it to three with 8:37 left. A layup by Jarosz with 5:45 remaining gave Marist its first lead of the second half, but it would not be smooth sailing to the finish line.
 
With 45 seconds remaining, Quinnipiac had the ball down one. The possession ended in a turnover. Two free throws by Coffey extended Marist's lead to three. A three-pointer missed on the Bobcats' next possession. Ockenden then split a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game with five seconds left, and Marist closed it out for an improbable 70-66 victory for its ninth straight MAAC championship.
 
Coffey, who led all scorers with 23 points in the championship game, was named Tournament MVP. Dulin and O'Connor were named to the All-Tournament, as they and Ockenden finished their careers 4-for-4 winning MAAC championships.
 

NCAA Tournament

The good news was, Marist secured its third-best seed in program history. The Red Foxes were a #11, and traveled to Iowa City, Iowa.
 
The bad news was, for the first time in its 10 NCAA appearances, Marist had a true road game in round one, as the Red Foxes' opponent was Iowa.
 
A competitive first half featured six lead changes and three ties, but the Hawkeyes used a 10-2 run late in the first 20 minutes to take a 38-30 halftime lead. With 15:21 remaining, Ockenden's jumper brought the Red Foxes to within five, but that was as close as they would get. Iowa pulled away for an 87-65 win that ended Marist's season at 27-7.
 
O'Connor, Coffey, and Blais led the Red Foxes with 12 points apiece, followed by Dulin with 10.
 

Fun Facts

• On March 20, 2014 – the same night Marist chartered to Iowa for the NCAA Tournament – a WNIT game took place between Megan Gebbia's American squad and Tony Bozzella's Seton Hall team. The Pirates prevailed by a score of 63-60.
• Gebbia served as head coach of American for nine years. She reached the NCAA Tournament three teams and WNIT twice. On May 26, 2022, she was hired as head coach of Wake Forest, and led the Demon Deacons to a WNIT appearance in her first season. In the entirety of her 10 years as a head coach, Marist graduates Nikki Flores (Class of 2008) and Emily Stallings (Class of 2012) have been on her staff.
• Bozzella is in his 10^th season at Seton Hall. He has reached the NCAA Tournament twice and the WNIT five times, including a championship game appearance in 2022.
• At Seton Hall, Bozzella had a home-and-home with Marist in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The Pirates won both contests.

 

Coming Up Next

Coach Giorgis is the founding member of the 400/400 club, and we pay special recognition to the Class of 2020.