Marist women’s basketball went on the road Friday night in their MAAC conference opener and climbed past Mount St. Mary’s, winning 61-50 in a low-scoring affair turned overtime thriller.
Freshman guard Danielle Williamsen continued her standout freshman season, scoring a career-high 22 points in 35 minutes, including shooting 3-for-4 from the charity stripe and 7-for-11 from the field.
Williamsen’s clutch free-throw shooting and junior center Morgan Lee’s clutch layup with under 30 seconds tied the Red Foxes with the Mount at 45-45 after regulation. Lee finished her game with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds), with a trio of Red Foxes in double digits (redshirt junior Lexie Tarul finished with 16 points).
In overtime, the Red Foxes walloped Mount St. Mary’s with 11 made free throws, putting the game out of reach. Neither team shot the ball with efficiency; the Red Foxes shot 36.2% from the field while the Mount shot at a 32.7% clip.
Without the shooting factor, the Red Foxes crashed the boards–led by Lee–and outpaced the Mount 43-33 on rebounds. Marist played in the final game on a full slate of MAAC games, joining five other teams tied for first place at the end of the day.
The Red Foxes came out of the gates hot, specifically junior center Morgan Lee. Lee put up a quick five points accompanied by two assists. Redshirt junior guard Lexi Tarul added five of her own as Marist developed a double-digit lead through six minutes of play. A media timeout brought the momentum scale back to even, though, as the Mountaineers fought back to end the quarter down only one, 13-12.
Neither offense was alive to begin the second quarter, with a bucket from Williamsen being the only two points scored by either team until a Tarul jumper extended Marist’s lead to five with just under four minutes to go in the first half.
Mount St. Mary’s was still without a basket in the second quarter when freshman guard Madison Ruff nailed a pair of free throws, although both sides still struggled from the field. Ruff finished with 14 points and two steals, both career highs.
Ruff took advantage of the space she was given, converting on a layup to earn a new career-high. Both offenses looked much more alive, with the Red Foxes up 27-22 halfway through the third frame.
The Mountaineers lept to a 7-0 run as the game opened up and teams began hitting shots. Although neither team knocked down a 3-point shot in the third, more shots landed and the Red Foxes ended the quarter with a three-point 34-31 advantage.
Graduate student Anna LeMaster hit the first 3-pointer of the second half for either team in the fourth quarter, which put the Mount even with Marist. LeMaster went down and hit a second consecutive triple, giving the Mountaineers their first lead of the game.
Marist head coach Erin Doughty called her first timeout of the quarter after being on the wrong end of an 8-to-1 run to open the last period. Mount St.Mary’s held a 39-35 lead with just under six and a half minutes remaining. Tarul knocked down a three out of the stoppage to cut the lead but the momentum was still undoubtedly with the home side.
The Red Foxes would retake the lead on a jumper from Williamsen, giving her 13 and a new career-high. Williamsen nailed a three a couple of minutes later, and Lee added a layup to tie the game with under 30 seconds. A missed buzzer-beating attempt from LeMaster sent the game into overtime, where Tarul would quickly knock down a three.
Lee would hit two layups, bringing her total up to 16, as the Red Foxes held a five-point lead and the ball with just under a minute and a half to play. Three unanswered free throws from Tarul extended the lead to eight with under 50 seconds to play, putting the nail in the coffin for Marist.
Sitting at 6-5 with a 1-0 start to their conference season, the Red Foxes host Manhattan on Saturday, Dec. 21 in their second MAAC game. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Photo from Marist Athletics
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