Despite putting up a competitive effort, Marist women’s basketball had their three-game win streak snapped by Fairfield in a 60-46 loss.
After grabbing a pair of razor-thin victories over Niagara and Mount St. Mary’s, the Red Foxes (5-12, 3-4 MAAC conference) faced much stiffer competition against Fairfield (15-1, 7-0 MAAC). The Stags entered play atop the conference and held up their end of the bargain by outplaying Marist for most of the final three quarters, although the Red Foxes did manage to make it interesting at times by keeping consistent defensive intensity.
“To hold them to almost 15 points below their scoring average, their shooting percentages were way down, we forced 23 turnovers, I thought we did a really nice job defensively,” said Marist head coach Erin Doughty. “Obviously we struggled offensively, and I think that’s a credit to Fairfield.”
In a hotly-contested first quarter, redshirt sophomore guard Lexie Tarul picked up where she left off after her sharpshooting performance against Mount St. Mary’s by opening the scoring. Minutes later, senior forward Zaria Shazer made her first standout play of the day, tying the game at four with a driving layup.
Fairfield jumped back out in front, with a 3-pointer from freshman forward Meghan Andersen putting her team up by five. Andersen is in the midst of a standout season, as she entered play with 50-40-90 shooting splits on a high volume. Senior point guard Kiara Fisher helped Marist keep pace with four consecutive made free throws; Shazer then made a layup to give her team the lead after sophomore forward Ciara Croker found her inside on a nice-looking feed.
Croker continued to make positive contributions, swishing a long jumper to put her team up three. The Marist defense had a strong first quarter, with players such as Shazer making life difficult for Fairfield on the interior. Fairfield struggled to get going, and this was exemplified by a fruitless possession late in the quarter in which the Stags committed a shot clock violation. At the end of one, Marist led by one, 14-13.
“[Fairfield] had to use their whole offensive possession which is not something they like to do, they like to score within the first 10 seconds of having the ball,” said Doughty of her team’s approach defensively.
Fisher kept the momentum going for Marist early in the second quarter as she drained a three from the right wing. Moments later, starting junior guard Kendall McGruder went down with an injury and had to be helped off the floor, although she would eventually return to action.
The Marist momentum suddenly dried up and things began to percolate offensively for Fairfield, as their second-leading scorer, senior guard Janelle Brown, came to life with back-to-back layups after being held scoreless in the first quarter. Andersen chipped in with a layup for her own, giving the Stags a six-point lead and prompting Doughty to call a timeout.
The timeout did little to slow down Brown; the senior guard made a layup and a 3-pointer out of the timeout break, and the Stags continued to roll, opening up a 32-17 lead. Freshman guard Julia Corsentino finally broke the scoring drought for Marist with a layup and a few free throws, but Marist still trailed by 16 at the half.
Early in the third quarter, Fisher made another triple along with a few free throws, while the Red Foxes made some stops on the other end of the floor. Andersen used a eurostep to secure a layup of her own but Marist responded, with Tarul draining a shot from deep.
Marist continued to put up a fight, as a pair of Shazer free throws cut the deficit down to eight midway through the third quarter. The deficit continued to shrink, with Fisher playing tenacious defense on Andersen, generating a steal and then finishing on the other end to make it 40-34. Andersen made up for it by draining a corner three to put the Stags back up by nine with one quarter left to play.
Down the stretch, Fairfield reestablished their double-digit lead and held Marist at bay. At the eight-minute mark, McGruder made a 3-point shot after officials deemed sophomore guard Jackie Piddock had fouled her, but after official review, officials deemed the shot occurred after the foul, wiping critical points off the board.
Marist continued to make a host of defensive stops, but could not get the offense going until later in the quarter, which allowed Fairfield to maintain a comfortable lead. A 3-pointer from junior guard Emina Selimovic effectively put the game out of reach with under two minutes remaining, and Fairfield held on for their MAAC-leading 15th victory.
“I know we still have a few MAAC schools to play, but we’ve been in games with everyone. This team does not quit,” said Doughty after the loss.
Next on the horizon for the Red Foxes is a road matchup at Manhattan. Tipoff is set for Thursday at 7 p.m., and Marist will face a Jaspers team that has gotten off to a fast start with a 12-4 record and 5-2 MAAC record. Leading the Jaspers in scoring and assists is junior guard Nitzan Amar, who has shot efficiently as part of a balanced Manhattan attack.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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