ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – By record, The Marist Red Foxes’ worst year in program history comes to a close at the hands of the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, 60-47 in the first round of the MAAC Tournament.
Marist (6-25, 4-17 MAAC Conference) had all hands on deck in this win-or-go-home. The pair of seniors, guard Kiara Fisher and forward Zaria Shazer both suited up, despite missing the end of the regular season. They ultimately combined to play 20 minutes, 13 for Shazer and seven for Fisher.
“They were not on a minutes limit, but they were not 100%,” said head coach Erin Doughty. “So it was kind of ‘see how they feel’.”
Jessica Tomasetti, the Mountaineers’ (15-16, 11-10 MAAC) leading scorer in the regular season, scored Mount St. Mary’s first four points. The senior guard gave the Red Foxes fits in their previous two matchups in which she averaged 18 points. They held her to 11 today, but she added four rebounds and assists to help the Mountaineers well-rounded attack.
Sophomore center Morgan Lee, the catalyst of the Marist offense early on, scored nine points in the first quarter to push Marist out to a 12-9 lead through ten minutes of play.
As Lee and the Red Foxes cooled off, the Mountaineers caught fire, specifically junior guard Jo Raflo. In a 24-point quarter, Raflo sunk four three-pointers.
“Today was the first time I made a three in game at Atlantic City,” said Raflo. “I knew to shoot confidently no matter what the background behind the basket was.”
Marist, as a team, only made four shots in the quarter, allowing Mount St. Mary’s to stretch out to a 13-point halftime lead. Raflo led all scorers with 16, over four more than her season average of 11.9.
Marist kept better pace with the Mountaineers for the majority of the third quarter, nearly shrinking the deficit back down to single digits before Mount St. Mary’s dominated the final minute of play.
After a basket from redshirt sophomore forward Jaedyn Jamison, the Mountaineers put on a full court press off the inbound to force an errant pass from Fisher. Redshirt junior guard Jada Lee went to the basket, got fouled, and sunk both free throws.
Again on the inbound, the Mountaineers pressured, leading to another Fisher turnover. This time, redshirt freshman Giana Hoddinott scored the basket off the turnover, extending the Mount St. Mary’s lead to 17 in the waning seconds of the quarter.
Before it could expire, Marist finally broke through the press, resulting in a seemingly open layup for junior guard Catie Cunningham. Out of nowhere came senior forward Isabella Hunt, swatting the shot away, preserving the five-possession lead heading into the final ten minutes of play. Marist never brought the deficit down to single digits, ultimately losing 60-47.
Playing with more energy and intensity, the Mountaineers dominated the offensive glass. Marist’s 2-3 zone did its job in creating tough, off-target shot attempts, but Mount St. Mary’s constantly found themselves grabbing backbreaking offensive rebounds. At the game’s end, the Mountaineers recorded 15 second chance points. On the other end, Marist only scored seven, with five of them coming in the fourth quarter when the game was all but decided.
“All week [head coach Antoine White] was telling the guards to rush in and rebound,” said Tomasetti.
Tuesday’s loss closes the book on Erin Doughty’s first season running the show in the wake of Brian Giorgis’ 21-run that saw the Red Foxes win the MAAC Tournament 11 times. The last two years of his historic tenure both ended with first-round exits from the MAAC Tournament, and the trend continues with Doughty at the helm this year.
“I think that I can be a little tougher on people,” said Doughty.
Looking forward to next year, the Red Foxes graduate two key seniors, forward Zaria Shazer and guard Kiara Fisher. The duo of Shazer and Fisher finish the season one and two in points per game, while Fisher led the team in assists, even though she missed 13 contests.
In the ever-evolving world that is college basketball, it remains to be seen how active Marist will be in the transfer portal through both additions and subtractions to round out the roster next year. There, Doughty and the Red Foxes will attempt to put the disappointing year behind them, hoping to return Marist to their championship pedigree; but first, they’ll need to now get past the daunting first round that has tripped them up in three straight tournaments.
“There’s definitely going to be changes,” said Cunningham. “These three years, I’ve lost in the first round and that will not be happening again.”
A senior next year, Cunningham will have one more chance next March to help the Red Foxes make some noise in Atlantic City.
Edited by Danny Destler
Photo/Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
