The Marist women’s basketball team was ranked 23rd in the final ESPN/USA Today Women’s College Basketball Poll, released last week on April 9. This marks the second consecutive year the Red Foxes ended the season ranked in the coaches’ poll. Marist finished the season 32-3, won their third consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament, and won an NCAA Tournament game for the second consecutive year.
Marist set a new single-season program record for wins with their 32 victories. It also set a new record for consecutive wins with 22, a streak that lasted until the Red Foxes met LSU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Red Foxes became the first team in the MAAC to go undefeated in conference play since it expanded to 10 teams, winning their fifth straight regular-season title in the process. Marist also entered the coaches’ poll for the first time in the regular season on Feb. 12 at number 25 and rose as high as number 20.
In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, La. on March 22, Marist rode a 32-2 run in the second half to defeat 10th-seeded DePaul 76-57. Two days later, the Red Foxes fell to second seed LSU on their home floor 68-49. LSU went on to reach the Final Four in Tampa, Fla.
The Red Foxes earned their fair share of postseason accolades. Sophomore forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) was named the Pepsi MAAC Player of the Year, as well as being named to the First Team All-MAAC and the MAAC All-Tournament Team. Fitz set new single-season Marist records for points scored with 649 points, field goals made with 224, free throws made with 201, and free throw percentage making 86.6 percent of her free throws. She also became the first sophomore in program history to score 1,000 career points. Guards Nikki Flores (Montvale, N.J.) and Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie) garnered Second-Team All-MAAC selections. Flores, a senior, was also named to the MAAC All-Tournament Team and leaves Marist as its all-time leader in games played with 128.
Sophomore forward Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) was named the MAAC Sixth Player of the Year after leading the Marist reserves with 5.5 points per game, shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from the three-point arc. Freshman Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team and was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year. Allenspach finished her freshman season leading the MAAC in three-point field goal percentage, making 49.5 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc. Head coach Brian Giorgis was honored as The Rock MAAC Coach of the Year, marking the fourth time in the last six seasons he has earned at least a share of the award.
Along with being named the MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, senior Sarah Smrdel (Mentor, Ohio) was one of six Marist players named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. Joining Smrdel on that team are Fitz, Flores, Viani, senior Meg Dahlman (Spencerport), and sophomore Brittany Engle (South Easton, Mass.). Dahlman also scored her 1,000th career point this season, ending her career with 1,160 points.
Marist returns nine letterwinners from this season’s squad: Viani, Fitz, Engle, Johnson, Allenspach, freshman guard Élise Caron (Quebec, Canada), freshman center Maria Laterza (Brooklyn), freshman forward Sarah Huff (Canal Winchester, Ohio), and senior guard Courtney Kolesar (Concord, Ohio).
Lacrosse Foxes improve to 4-1 in MAAC
After Niagara tied the score at 1-1, the Marist women’s lacrosse team went on to score the game’s next 17 goals en route to a 19-2 win over the Niagara Purple Eagles on April 13. Senior Lindsey Diener (Nanuet) led Marist (7-6, 4-1 MAAC) with six points, and three other Red Foxes had two goals.
Senior Liz Burkhard (Wantagh) was in goal for Marist and only faced seven shots in total. She made three saves. Marist took 40 shots on the afternoon.
Diener had three goals and three assists, while Liz Falco (Yorktown Heights) and Stephanie Garland (Long Valley, N.J.) each had three points. Falco had two goals to go with an assist, and Garland had a goal and two assists.
Freshman Kaitlyn O’Sullivan, sophomore Erin Wilson (Ada, Mich.), and sophomore Lindsay Rinefierd (Smithtown) all had two goals in the win.
Nicole Musto (Glastonbury, Conn.) led the Red Foxes with three ground balls.
Marist has now won four straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference contests after dropping their opener to Fairfield. The Red Foxes are alone in second place in the conference standings and trail Fairfield (5-0) by one game.
They are also over .500 for the first time since beating Sacred Heart in the third game of the season.
The Red Foxes will return home on Friday when they host Siena in their final MAAC regular season game of the season.
Softball squad swept at Siena
The Marist softball team dropped a doubleheader to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Siena on April 13 in Loudonville. Marist out-hit Siena in both contests, and junior shortstop Melissa Giordano (Stamford, Conn.) homered twice in the opener, but it wasn’t enough as the Saints prevailed 4-2 in game 1 and 6-3 in game 2.
Giordano’s first solo shot came in the top of the third inning, and it put the Red Foxes (12-21, 0-3 MAAC) up 1-0.
That lead was short-lived as Siena was able to answer with four of their own in the bottom half. The big blow was a three-run homer off the bat of Jennifer Granato.
Giordano’s second homer came in the fifth to pull Marist within two, but the Red Foxes couldn’t get any closer.
Megan Rigos (Pittsburgh, Pa.) went the distance and took the loss. She had eight strikeouts and is now 8-10 on the year.
Marist had a total of seven hits. Freshman Kate Malloy had two singles and senior Pamela de la Llave (West Orange, N.J.) had a single and two successful sacrifice bunts. Alanna Woody (Clinton Corners) and Mary Beth Pomes (Milford, Pa.) each singled.
Jamie Piela earned the game 1 win for Siena. She went all seven and had four strikeouts.
In game 2, Granato and Lauren Weingart drove in all six Siena runs. Weingart hit a two-run single in the third to put Siena up 2-0. Marist answered in the fourth when Giordano doubled and then scored on an Alison Catenacci (Medfield, Mass.) RBI single.
Granato hit her second three-run homer of the day to extend Siena’s lead to 5-1 in the fifth, and Weingart followed with a solo homer of her own. The Red Foxes rallied in the seventh to cut the lead to 6-3 and had the tying run at the plate but couldn’t get any closer.
Freshman McCallion Campbell (Port Jervis) started the inning with a single and fellow rookie Heather Young (Clinton Corners) followed with a double. Pomes then hit a soft ground ball that the Siena first baseman threw away and both Campbell and Young scored. De la Llave then singled to get the tying run to the plate, but Giordano hit a laser right at the shortstop and Malloy grounded to second.
In the nightcap, Giordano went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, and Catenacci had an RBI single. Young, Campbell, and de la Llave had the three other Marist hits.
Caitlin Carpentier (Andover, Mass.) started game 2 and took the loss. She went five innings and was charged with all six runs. Five of them were earned. Freshman Heather Viola (East Meadow) pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
Siena (9-23, 2-6 MAAC) starter Lauren Sheehan pitched well in the second game. She earned the win and went all seven innings.
The Red Foxes will look to get back in the win column when they visit Rider on Saturday, April 19, beginning at 1 p.m.