POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist University women's basketball team dropped a 77-72 overtime contest to Merrimack on Thursday evening at McCann Arena.
The Red Foxes held a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, but seven turnovers in the frame proved costly as Merrimack tied the game at the buzzer and shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line in overtime to pull away.
Sophomore guard
Kasey Bretones led the Red Foxes with career highs of 18 points and three steals, along with a career-high-tying four rebounds. Senior captain guard
Lexie Tarul added 17 points and nine rebounds, while freshman forward
Justine Henry contributed 15 points and five rebounds.
Marist falls to 10-16 overall and 7-9 in the MAAC, while Merrimack improves to 14-10 on the season and 11-4 in conference play.
- The Warriors led 9-8 at the media timeout with 4:50 to go in the opening frame.
- After Merrimack took a 12-8 advantage, the Red Foxes closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 17-12 lead after one.
- The Warriors used a 6-0 spurt to take a 23-22 lead at the 5:18 mark.
- Marist answered with an 8-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Chloe Escanillas and Bretones, to go ahead 33-25 with 2:43 remaining in the half.
- The Red Foxes led 35-27 at halftime, shooting 6-for-10 from three-point range in the first half as Escanillas and Bretones each went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
- Merrimack opened the second half with a 10-4 run as Marist led 39-37 at the media timeout with 4:41 remaining.
- A Marist scoring drought of more than five minutes allowed the Warriors to take a 41-39 lead with under two minutes to play in the quarter.
- Junior forward Karly Fischer knocked down a mid-range jumper in the final seconds to give the Red Foxes a 43-41 advantage heading into the fourth.
- Marist opened the final frame on a 9-0 run, capped by six straight points from Bretones, to build a 52-43 lead at the 7:48 mark.
- A 3-pointer from Lexie Tarul gave the Red Foxes a 57-47 lead at 4:35 before another scoring drought allowed Merrimack to cut the deficit to 57-53 with 1:28 remaining.
- The Warriors capitalized on a turnover to get within two, but senior captain guard Jackie Piddock drew a foul and made both free throws to put Marist ahead by four with 20 seconds left.
- After another turnover, Merrimack trimmed the deficit to two again. Following a jump ball, with just 0.6 seconds on the clock, the Warriors converted on a baseline out-of-bounds play at the buzzer to tie the game and force overtime.
- The Warriors opened the extra period with an 8-2 run, knocking down two 3-pointers to take a 69-63 lead.
- Marist responded with three straight field goals to pull within one at 71-70, but Merrimack answered with a bucket on the other end to extend its lead.
- The Warriors converted down the stretch and secured the 77-72 victory.
- The Red Foxes travel to face Rider on Saturday, Feb. 14.
- Tip-off from Alumni Gymnasium is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
