Junior forward Rachele Fitz (Seven Hills, Ohio) scored 24 of her game-high 28 points in the second half to lead Marist past Boston University 73-62 at the McCann Center on Dec. 13. The Red Foxes led by three, 31-28, at halftime and shot 52.2 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from the Terriers.
Fitz made 8-of-11 shots from the field and was 12-for-14 at the free throw line. She also led all players with 12 rebounds. Julianne Viani (Poughkeepsie) scored 19 points and tied a career-high with seven rebounds. Lynzee Johnson (Bellbrook, Ohio) added 10 points off the bench, tied her career-high with seven rebounds, and had a career-high four assists.
Marist (8-1) and BU traded points early, playing to a 9-9 tie 6:43 into the first half. A Johnson jumper and Erica Allenspach (Miamisburg, Ohio) three-pointer gave the Red Foxes a five-point lead, 14-9, with 9:16 left in the half. The Terriers responded with a Kristi Dini triple and Jesyka Burks-Wiley three-point play to go ahead 15-14 with 8:12 to go in the first. Marist then went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:47, capped off by a Viani three-pointer, to take a 21-15 lead with 5:35 left in the half. The Terriers hung with Marist for the rest of the half, cutting the deficit to three, 31-28, by halftime.
BU (5-5) opened the half on an 8-4 run, getting four points from Burks-Wiley, to take a 36-35 lead with 17:26 to go in the game. The Red Foxes took back the lead on a pair of Fitz baskets to go ahead 39-36 with 16:22 left. After a Christine Kinneary layup got the Terriers within one, 39-38, with 14:17 to go in the game, Marist held BU without a field goal for the next 4:54. During that stretch the Red Foxes went on an 11-2 run with Allenspach and Fitz scoring all 11 points, and made the score 50-40. The Terriers got as close as seven points the rest of the way. Marist was 17-for-21 from the free throw line in the second half and extended the lead to 14, 70-56, with 1:43 to go.
The Red Foxes shot 46.9 percent from the field and held BU to percent. Marist also outrebounded the Terriers 39-35. BU forced 17 Marist turnovers and only committed 11. Marist shot 81.5 percent from the charity stripe as the Terriers made 66.7 percent of their free throws. Burks-Wiley led BU with 17 points, while Kinneary added 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Marist will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 20 when it takes on St. Bonaventure at the McCann Center at 2 p.m. Single-game and group tickets are available online at GoRedFoxes.com and at the Marist Ticket Office.
Marist men shut down by Cleveland State
The Marist men’s basketball team lost at home to Cleveland State in a non-conference game on Dec. 13, falling by a score of 66-47. Red-shirt senior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights) led the Red Foxes in scoring with 14.
Schneider was the lone Red Fox to score in double digits. Red-shirt sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin (Baltimore, Md.) added eight along with a team-high seven rebounds.
J’Nathan Bullock paced a balanced scoring attack for Cleveland State with 11. George Tandy added nine points and secured a game-high nine rebounds for the Vikings, who improved to 6-4 overall.
Cleveland State shot 56 percent for the game, converting 28 of their 50 attempts from the field. The Vikings also shot 44.4 percent from three-point range (4-for-9) and committed just 13 turnovers.
The lead changed hands six times in the first 5:13 of the game until a three-pointer by Bullock put Cleveland State up 9-7, and the Vikings never trailed after that. Bullock’s three-pointer also started Cleveland State on a 19-1 run over the next 6:19.
With Cleveland State having taken a 25-8 lead, the Red Foxes then reeled off 12 straight points to cut the Vikings’ lead to five with 3:40 left in the first half. However, the Vikings closed the half on a 7-2 run, including a three-pointer by Cedric Jackson as time expired in the first half.
The Vikings then scored the first six points of the second half, and never led by less than 11 the rest of the way. Cleveland State’s largest lead was 25 with 3:39 remaining.
Marist dropped its second straight and fell to 3-6 overall. The Red Foxes will return to action on Dec. 20, when they take on St. John’s in the first round of the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m., and the game will be televised by MSG.
Notes: Freshmen R.J. Hall (Bloomfield, N.J.) and Alex Vouyoukas (Athens, Greece) made their first career starts and scored six and seven points, respectively. Vouyoukas’ point total was a career high … Goodwin’s rebound total of seven was a career high … Attendance at the McCann Center was 2,023.
Women’s water polo releases 2009 schedule
The Marist Athletics Department released the 2009 women’s water polo schedule last week, and the Red Foxes will open the 2009 season against 2008 NCAA tournament participant San Diego State on Feb. 6. Marist will play in five in-season tournaments, hosting two at the McCann Natatorium. They will also host the 2009 MAAC Championships.
After taking on the Aztecs, Marist will stay in San Diego to play in the Triton Invitational on Feb. 7-8 at UC San Diego. Two weeks later the Red Foxes will play in the Princeton Invitational. Marist then will host the ECAC Championships on Feb. 28 to March 1. Last season, the Red Foxes fell in the title game to Bucknell, 8-7. The Red Foxes will host the Marist Invitational on March 7-8.
The next weekend, Marist will play in the Blue Invitational at Michigan on March 14-15. On March 17, the Red Foxes will take on Michigan State in East Lansing. Marist will open MAAC league play on April 4 at Wagner against the host Seahawks as well as Iona. The Red Foxes went through the MAAC undefeated at 10-0 in 2008 and defeated Iona in the conference tournament final. On April 8, Marist will travel to Oneonta to take on Hartwick. Last season, the Red Foxes led early 3-1 against the Hawks only to fall 13-10.
Marist will host the last day of MAAC play on April 19. The Red Foxes will take on Siena at noon, followed by a 4:30 p.m. game against Iona. The 2009 MAAC Water Polo Championships will take place at the McCann Natatorium on April 25-26.
Last season, Marist won a program-record 27 games as well as its second MAAC water polo tournament championship.