The Marist women’s basketball team won its 11th consecutive game on Feb. 3, defeating Siena 79-70 at the Alumni Recreation Center in Albany. Sophomore forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) scored 27 points in the win, one point shy of tying her career high. She also grabbed seven rebounds as Marist moved to 11-0 in the MAAC.
Junior guard Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie) scored in double-figures for the sixth-straight game, putting in 16 points with a game-high five assists. Senior Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) came off the bench with 11 points, making 3-of-4 three-pointers. Meg Dahlman (Spencerport) had her third double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Siena and Marist traded points to start the first half. The Saints started the scoring with early baskets from Laura Menty and Shondaya Burrell. Fitz and Viani answered with four free throws to tie the game. Marist took its first lead of the game with 15:37 to go in the first half, when Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) hit a three-pointer for the Red Foxes’ first field goal to take a 7-6 advantage.
With the game tied at 18-18 with 9:13 to go in the first half, Fitz split a pair of free throws to give Marist a 19-18 lead. The Red Foxes would go on to hit threes on their next three possessions, as Allenspach, Viani and Dahlman all connected from beyond the arc to put the Red Foxes ahead 28-20. Siena came back with a three from Liga Alpe-Luka and a Menty three-point play to get within two, 28-26, with 5:23 to go in the half. Once again, Marist responded a Siena run, ending the half on a 12-4 run capped by a pair of Smrdel three-pointers to take a 40-30 lead into the locker room.
After the Saints closed to within seven to begin the second half, Fitz and Viani combined to go on a 15-4 run to give Marist a 55-37 lead with 12:33 to go in the game. The lead would stay in double-digits for much of the second half, as Viani’s third triple put the Red Foxes ahead 65-47 with 8:00 to go. Siena had one last run in them, as a Madel Gimpes triple sparked an 11-2 stretch for the Saints to make the score 67-58 with 4:24 to go.
Marist just proved to be too much, however, as the Red Foxes made eight of their last 10 free throws to take a 79-65 lead with 56 seconds left. Siena scored the last five points on a Manzer layup and Gimpes half-court three-pointer at the final horn to make the final score 79-70.
Marist (21-2, 11-0 MAAC) shot only 39.6 percent from the field, making 21-of-53 shots. They were 10-of-23 beyond the three-point arc and 27-of-36 at the free throw line. The Red Foxes held a 39-30 rebounding edge, turning 13 offensive rebounds into nine-second chance points. Marist assisted on 18 of their 21 baskets.
Siena (7-14, 3-8 MAAC) was led by Shondaya Burrell’s 25 points. Laura Menty and Liga Alpe-Luka scored 10 points apiece for the Saints. Siena shot 47.1 percent from the field in Sunday’s game, but shot only 23.5 percent from the three-point line.
The Red Foxes continue their current road trip Friday night at Niagara. Tip-off from the Gallagher Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Fitz and Allenspach earn MAAC honors
Fitz and Allenspach were honored by the MAAC last week for their performances over the previous week. This is the third time Fitz has been named Player of the Week, and the first time she won the award outright. It is also the third time Allenspach has been Rookie of the Week, sharing the award with Liz Flooks of Niagara.
Fitz was also named the Prestosports/MBWA Player of the Week on Monday. Fitz averaged 20 points a game in wins over Canisius, Siena and Loyola while going 18-for-18 at the free throw line. Against the Golden Griffins, the sophomore forward had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, going 6-of-9 from the field. In front of a sellout crowd on Jan. 25, Fitz scored 14 points, pulled down eight boards, and tied a career-high with three blocks. Fitz came two points shy of her career high Sunday against Loyola, scoring 26 points with 10 boards. For the week, Fitz shot 65.6 percent from the field and averaged 8.7 rebounds and two blocks a game.
Allenspach averaged over 10 points per game in three wins over Canisius, Siena and Loyola this week. The freshman was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field against Canisius with four three pointers, scoring a career high 20 points on Jan. 21. She followed up that effort with a 3-for-4 effort from beyond the arc against Siena, scoring nine points with six rebounds and four assists. For the week, Allenspach averaged 10.7 points per game, shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 80 percent from the three-point line. She also averaged four rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
Men fall to Siena
The Marist men’s basketball team dropped its second straight game on Feb. 4, as the Red Foxes suffered a 76-72 loss to Siena at the Times Union Center. Red-shirt sophomore guard David Devezin (Houston, Texas), freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) and red-shirt junior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights) scored 15 points apiece to pace the Red Foxes.
Four Siena players scored in double digits, led by Alex Franklin, who scored a game-high 20. Edwin Ubiles scored 15 and Tay Fisher had 14 points and four steals. Fisher hit four three-pointers.
With the victory, Siena moved into second place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with 9-3 record. Marist now stands 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the MAAC, which puts the Red Foxes in fourth place, one-half game behind Loyola for third.
A back-and-forth first half included four ties and five lead changes. Siena led by eight twice in the first half, including a 37-29 advantage with 3:21 left in the first half. The Red Foxes held the Saints scoreless for the remainder of the half, and added five points of their own to cut Siena’s lead to 37-34 at halftime.
With 17:30 to play, a basket by Devezin gave Marist a 40-39 lead. However, just 29 seconds later, Franklin converted a three-point play to give Siena a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Marist never cut Siena’s lead lower than four in the final 16:06.
The Red Foxes shot .472 from the field, as compared to .453 for Siena, snapping a streak of 25 consecutive victories for Marist when it outshot the opponent. Marist shot 9-for-20 (.450) from three-point range, while Siena was 7-for-12 (.583). Siena went to the free-throw line 32 times and converted 21 of its attempts (.656), while Marist was 13-for-16 (.813). Siena won the battle of the boards by a 35-29 margin.
Devezin, who also had four rebounds, three steals and two assists, played all 40 minutes for the first time this season. Schneider, whose point total was a season high, grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Senior Ben Farmer (Clinton, Conn.) had six points and a career-high six assists.
Marist will return to action on Feb. 8 at home against Siena. The contest will start at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU.