The Marist women’s basketball team won its ninth consecutive game on Jan. 27, defeating Loyola 85-59 at the McCann Center. The Red Foxes shot a season-high 51.6 percent from the field, with four players shooting over 60 percent in the win. Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) led all scorers with 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
“After 13 of the first 18 games on the road, I think we’re getting used to playing at home,” said head coach Brian Giorgis as Marist moved to 19-2 on the season and a perfect 9-0 mark in the MAAC.
Junior guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie) scored in double-figures for the fourth straight game, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, and had five assists. Viani connected on 4-of-6 three pointers as Marist shot 58.8 percent from beyond the arc. Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) was the third Red Fox in double-figures with 16 points and three assists.
Meg Dahlman (Spencerport) led the Marist defense, which held Loyola to 30.9 percent shooting from the field. The senior had nine rebounds and tied a career-high with five blocks. The Red Foxes held the Greyhounds to just seven field goals in the second half.
Marist came out of the gates making eight of their first 11 shots from the field to take a 17-4 lead 7:13 into the game. The lead would grow to 16 on a Viani three-point play to make the score 20-4. Marist’s largest lead of the first half was 17, as a Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) three gave Marist a 23-6 lead. The Red Foxes led by double digits for much of the first half, but Loyola crept back at the end of the half. After a Flores jumper put Marist ahead 40-25, the Greyhounds went on a 10-2 run sparked by a Devon Carey three-pointer and a Vika Sholokhova three-point play, to get the halftime deficit to seven, 42-35
The Greyhounds stayed with Marist to start the second half, trading baskets to get the score 47-40 with 18:29 to go. The Red Foxes took the momentum from there, as Flores and Fitz led Marist on a 16-2 run over the next 7:06 to take a commanding 64-42 lead. The Marist defense forced 14 straight Loyola misses at one point in the second half. Marist would reach its largest lead of the game with 5:32 to go, as a Viani three put the Red Foxes ahead by 28, 77-49.
Marist made 32 field goals in the game and shot over 50 percent in each half. They also shot over 80 percent from the free-throw line for the 13th time this season, shooting 84.6 percent from the charity stripe on Sunday. Marist also distributed the basketball well with 18 assists to only nine turnovers. Loyola was led by Candace Walker, who scored 17 points. Meredith Tolley added 12 points and Vika Sholokhova had eight points and 10 boards off the bench.
The Red Foxes close out their four-game homestand on Feb. 1 against Rider. Single-game and group tickets are available online at GoRedFoxes.com and at the Marist Ticket Office. For ticket information, call 575-3553.
Men roll over Canisius
Red-shirt junior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights) had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Marist men’s basketball team earned a 66-44 victory over Canisius before 2,422 fans at the McCann Center on Jan. 27. The 22-point margin of victory was the largest of the season for the Red Foxes, who improved to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.
Marist held Canisius to 25.9 percent shooting, the lowest total for a Marist opponent this season. The Red Foxes have now held their last three opponents under 30 percent shooting.
“We want to try as hard as we can to play as high a level of defense as we can, and we held them to (25.9) percent shooting today,” Marist head coach Matt Brady said.
Four Red Foxes scored in double digits. Freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) and red-shirt senior forward Ryan Stilphen (Bay Village, Ohio) tied for the game high with 13 points apiece. Senior center Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) added 10 points and six rebounds.
Canisius (3-17, 1-9) started quickly, as the Golden Griffins hit their first four three-point attempts to take a 12-2 lead with 16:30 remaining in the first half. However, Canisius would score just five points over the next 12:48 as the Red Foxes roared back, going on a 21-5 run in that span. A three-point play by senior forward Shae McNamara (Milwaukee, Wisc.) gave Marist the lead for the first time in the game, an 18-16 advantage with 9:42 left in the first half. The Red Foxes led the rest of the way.
Marist took a 34-24 halftime lead, and never led by less than 10 in the second half. The Red Foxes outscored the Golden Griffins 32-20 in the second half, and held Canisius to 22.2 percent shooting in the second half.
The 44 points allowed by the Red Foxes were the second lowest scored by a Marist opponent this year, as Bucknell tallied 40 against Marist on Nov. 28. Frank Turner led Canisius with nine points, marking the second time this season the Red Foxes did not allow a double-digit scorer in a game. The first time also came against Bucknell.
The 8-2 conference start for the Red Foxes ties the best mark in school history. Marist also started 8-2 in the 2000-01 season.
Vassar women swimmers compete at Seven Sisters
The Vassar’s women’s swimming team did more than finish second at the Seven Sisters Championships on Jan. 27. The Brewers closed the point differential from a year ago between themselves and champion Wellesley, serving notice that the program is steadily on the rise and quite possibly setting an early tone for next year’s meet, which will be hosted by Vassar. The Brewers improved their second-place finish by 251.5 points from the previous season.
Junior Emily Love helped pave the way with four first-place finishes (one with the 200 medley team), a new meet record in the 200-yard back and a place on the All-Seven Sisters team. The Brewers placed a strong second with 891.5 points. Wellesley proved a formidable opponent, winning the championship for the 11th consecutive year with a team total of 1,126.5 points. Smith College finished in third with 715 points. Mount Holyoke College finished in fourth place with a score of 407 and a young Bryn Mawr College squad came in fifth place with 344 points.
Day two of the championship featured seven events, three of which had new meet records set. In the 200 back, Love took home first place with a time of 2:10:68, edging out her previously set meet record of 2:10:98. She had previously won the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle and was a member of the winning 200 medley team. On Sunday, Love finished second in the 500 freestyle, by 100th of a second, and in the process swam a lifetime best.
Vassar’s winning 200 medley team was comprised of Love, Allison Koenker, Jess Lentner and Jordana Jantze, and finished in 1:58:91.
Notable performances for Vassar in the order the event took place, included:
• Nyanza Rothman finishing third in the 200 IM (2:22.23).
• Jordana Jentze and Jess Lentner finishing sixth and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle (25:86/27:08).
• Allison Koenker finishing third in the 400 IM (5:00.88).
• Sam Jones finishing third in the 100 butterfly (1:03.83).
• Koenker finishing fourth in the 100 breastroke (1:16.36).
• Vassar finishing first, second and third in the 100 backstroke with Love, Jones and Rothman (1:01.27/1:03.83/1:04.91).
• Fifth place finish for the 800 freestyle relay with Charley Young, Melisa Brower, Keri Peacock, Liz Gadomski (8:57.99).
• Young finishing fourth in the 1,650 freestyle (19:03.21). In that race Stacy Mack and Liz Gadomski came in seventh and ninth respectively (19:33.42/19:58.72).
• Jantze finishng fourth in the 100 freestyle (56.88).
• Koenker finishing second in the 200 backstroke (2:40.93).
• Jones finishing fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:24.04).
• Second place finish for 400 yard freestyle relay with Maya Kriet, Lentner, Jantze and Love.
Other meet records included Shanti Freitas, of Smith College, who began the day winning the 3-meter diving event in route to setting a new meet record of 511.45. The previous record had been 422.55, set in 1996. Marly Pineda, also of Smith, began the swimming session of the day by winning the 1,650 free with a time of 18:12:32, breaking the meet record she had previously set. Additionally, Pineda took the 200 fly with a time of 2:13:13.