Marist women’s basketball earned a key 63-43 conference win over Iona thanks to a lockdown defensive display on Saturday at the Hynes Athletic Center.
The Red Foxes (12-10, 7-5 MAAC Conference) held Iona (9-14, 7-6 MAAC) to 29.5% from the field and 2-for-21 from beyond the arc in the contest. Sophomore forward Zoey Ward, who put up 18 points in the first meeting between Marist and Iona, registered just five points on 2-for-14 shooting today.
Meanwhile, it was a complete group effort on offense for Marist with three players scoring double-figures: redshirt junior guard Lexie Tarul (14 points), freshman guard Danielle Williamsen (12 points) and junior guard Jackie Piddock (10 points).
New Rochelle native and junior forward Ciara Croker – who grew up just a few blocks away from Iona and Hynes Athletic Center – delivered eight points and snagged nine rebounds in front of several family members during the victory.
It was all Red Foxes to begin the first quarter, as their defense forced the Gaels to start 0-for-11 from the field. Tarul, Croker and Piddock each made their first baskets to put Marist up 6-0 early.
Marist went into a bit of a slump on offense themselves but quickly turned that around with senior guard Catie Cunningham and Williamsen providing back-to-back 3-pointers to cap off a 14-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Iona waited until the 1:41 mark of the first quarter to get on the board, as junior guard Amaya Evans got a jumper to go. The Gaels shot a woeful 1-for-15 from the field and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the opening frame.
The Marist offense appeared like it would stay in a groove initially after a driving layup by Williamsen to open the second quarter.
However, after senior guard Ella Fajardo answered with the first Iona 3-pointer of the game to go right after, both teams went cold offensively. The Red Foxes went just under six minutes without scoring, while the Gaels managed just one basket in that stretch— a 3-pointer from Ward.
Junior center Morgan Lee and Tarul connected on back-to-back jumpers, but the Iona offense finally found some kind of rhythm just after. A pair of jumpers by the Gaels towards the end of the second quarter helped cut into the lead, but Marist still held a 22-13 advantage at the half. Iona turned the ball over six times in the first half, with the main offensive problem being the inability to make shots through the strong defensive efforts by the Red Foxes.
Croker started an 8-2 run out of the half for Marist with a driving layup. The Gaels beat themselves to start the third quarter, conceding four offensive rebounds by the 6:33 mark while going over the foul limit with over four minutes remaining. The Red Foxes used the charity stripe to bolster their lead, going 7-for-10 from the free throw line with over three minutes to go in the quarter to give them their largest lead of 16.
Iona looked like they might make it a closer game for a brief moment, but Piddock and Tarul put a stop to it. Piddock got a stepback jumper to go while Tarul knocked down her second 3-pointer, as Marist took a 40-25 lead into the final quarter.
Marist quickly padded their lead to 20 to open up the fourth quarter through the use of Croker and sophomore guard Julia Corsentino. Croker knocked down a long two-point shot and Corsentino drained her first triple to force Iona to call a timeout.
This stoppage did not cool off the Foxes however, as they finished 8-for-16 from the floor and delivered 23 points in the fourth quarter. The Gaels finally appeared to figure it out on offense midway through the final period, but it was too little too late as Marist easily walked away with the 20-point win.
The Red Foxes will return to the court on Thursday at 7 p.m. for another crucial MAAC matchup, this time on their home floor against Siena.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Kira Crutcher; Photo from Marist Athletics
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