Despite facing an Iona side that has struggled this season, Marist women’s basketball lost another one, falling 62-53 to the Gaels.
With Marist (5-17, 3-9 MAAC conference) on a five-game losing streak and Iona (8-14, 3-10 MAAC) having dropped their last six contests, something had to give on Saturday night. Graduate student forward Sierra DeAngelo came alive for Iona, leading the way with a game-high 17 points, including 3-5 shooting from deep.
Aside from the basketball game taking place, it was an emotional night at McCann Arena, as Marist held their annual Pink Out game to raise awareness for breast cancer. During halftime, the College honored survivors of breast cancer in an on-court ceremony, and Marist fans wore pink shirts to show their support for breast cancer awareness.
“My mother was a breast cancer survivor,” said Marist head coach Erin Doughty. “It’s something that I saw her fight through and struggle through. Tonight’s a really important night for me in remembering her and supporting and honoring women who are going through that same battle right now or have gone through it.”
Iona opened the scoring with a pair of threes from junior guard Ella Fajardo and DeAngelo. In contrast, senior point guard Kiara Fisher missed her first two attempts from deep despite getting open looks. Fisher has struggled all season from downtown while playing through nagging injuries, as she has buried just 19% of triples this year after making 33% of them last season.
DeAngelo kept things moving for the Gaels midway through the quarter, fighting inside for the layup and putting her team up 10-7. DeAngelo continued pouring it on, then draining a three from the wing in a display of her versatility. DeAngelo is Iona’s top scorer, as she averages nearly 12 points per night, and she played a key role in the first half with a 32% usage rate.
“DeAngelo’s a tough guard for us from a standpoint of, she can pull [Morgan Lee] out on the perimeter where she has an advantage, and then she can get [Ciara Croker] inside where she has an advantage,” said Doughty.
The bench began to contribute for Marist, as freshman guard Julia Corsentino and sophomore forward Ciara Croker checked in and each drained threes. Iona was unfazed, as Fajardo and sophomore forward Petra Oborilova clapped back with 3-pointers of their own. At the end of one, Marist trailed 21-12.
Marist opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run, tying the game at 21 apiece. Highlights of the run included a Fisher dime inside to sophomore center Morgan Lee, along with an emphatic block on the other end from senior forward Zaria Shazer.
Sophomore guard Lexie Tarul gave Marist a 26-23 lead by draining her third made 3-pointer later in the second quarter. Tarul has heated up from deep as of late and is now up over 36% from deep this year. After a resurgent second quarter, Marist went into the half leading 30-29.
Midway through the third quarter, Iona reestablished a four-point lead on a corner three from graduate student guard Natalia Otkhmezuri. Otkhmezuri has been a sharpshooter for the Gaels this season, swishing 39% of her attempts from deep while serving as Iona’s other lead scorer.
The Red Foxes failed to score for the first seven and a half minutes of the third quarter until sophomore guard Jackie Piddock nailed a corner three; Marist was fortunate to only be trailing by six after the woeful offensive stretch.
“We had some really bad offensive lapses and didn’t capitalize when we had some really good defensive stretches,” said Doughty. “That’s something we have to be better at, it’s been a problem all year, the inconsistency of really good quarters and really bad quarters.”
In the final moments of the quarter, Lee drained a triple and Fisher swished a jumper, cutting the Red Fox deficit to 40-38 with a quarter remaining.
In the fourth quarter, Lee established her defensive presence on the interior with a key block. Lee finished with 10 rebounds and three blocks, an encouraging showing for the still-developing sophomore.
“I think Morgan’s progressing nicely. We’ve had to talk to her about rebounding and how she needs to be better in there,” said Doughty. “Morgan has stepped up on the defensive end, she had a really nice block on a drive tonight.”
Nevertheless, Marist continually missed attempts from beyond the arc while Iona heated up, as the Gaels took a 48-40 lead after Oborilova and DeAngelo each buried 3-pointers.
With under five minutes left, Fisher finally got one to go from deep, as her fifth 3-point attempt of the day bounced around and in, making it a six-point Marist deficit. A missed Shazer layup at the three-minute mark followed by a corner three from sophomore guard Noa Givon put Marist in a nine-point hole that they ultimately could not overcome. At the final buzzer, Iona had prevailed by nine.
Marist will look to get off the schneid next Thursday evening when they travel to Buffalo to take on Canisius at 6 p.m.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo Credit: Jaylen Rizzo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.
