Marist women’s basketball (15-12, 10-7 MAAC Conference) handily defeated Sacred Heart 68-61, fueled by a dominant 20-point first-half from redshirt junior guard Lexie Tarul. The junior started 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and notched her career-high in points (20) with 3:09 remaining in the second quarter.
“When you’re a shooter and those first couple go in, the basket just seems huge,” said head coach Erin Doughty. “She’s someone who’s capable of lighting it up on any given night.”
Tarul finished with 23 points in the victory on a 54.5% shooting effort from long range. Junior center Morgan Lee secured her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds, much of which came in the second half. Freshman guard Danielle Williamsen provided 13 points herself in the victory, marking her third straight game scoring double figures.
“I don’t know how many people know this, but the Fairfield-Iona weekend, she [Williamsen] was really sick,” said Doughty. “She was subbing out of the game to throw up, so I think the last couple weekends she’s gotten back into her rhythm.”
Junior guard Ny’Ceara Pryor did the damage for the Pioneers with 25 points and four steals in the loss. Pryor entered tonight as the leading scorer in the MAAC, averaging 19.0 points per game.
Tarul got the Red Fox offense started with a layup on an over-the-top feed from junior guard Jackie Piddock. Lee and Williamsen followed that up, each making their first attempts of the game.
Marist was a bit careless with the basketball through the midway point of the first quarter with three turnovers, but made that seem irrelevant with a strong start from the field. Marist opened the game 4-for-6 from the field to find themselves up 9-5 early.
The Red Fox offense did not slow down out of the media timeout, as sophomore guard Malea Egan converted on an and-one opportunity. Tarul stayed in her groove, knocking down her second and third 3-pointers to give her 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 start from the field at the 2:11 mark of the first quarter.
“It feels good when you see the first few go in,” said Tarul. “Everything’s feeling good coming off your hands and it gives you the confidence to keep shooting.”
Tarul remained unconscious to start the second quarter, draining two more 3-pointers to put her at 17 points. The redshirt junior generated respectable “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd with the 5-for-5 start from beyond the arc by the 7:25 mark of the second quarter.
The Pioneers had answers though, as sophomore center Emma Kirby and Pryor each cashed in from inside the arc to keep the deficit within two.
The Marist offense stayed in a rhythm, as Tarul added her sixth 3-pointer while sophomore guard Julia Corsentino got her first to go from long range. The Red Foxes shot 51.9% from the field and 8-for-14 from beyond the arc, recording a season-high 39 first-half points.
Lee started to get into a groove herself to start the third quarter with her first 3-pointer and a layup to put the Red Foxes up by 11. Williamsen then drained a 3-pointer herself to put her at double digits and later followed that up with her third make from beyond the arc to give Marist a 57-42 advantage with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter.
Lee joined the double-figure club with a layup to give the Red Foxes a 59-47 lead going into the fourth quarter. Marist was sitting at 11-for-21 from beyond the arc after the third quarter.
The Pioneers did not go away without a fight though, ripping off a 10-0 run in just 1:11 seconds at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Sacred Heart used a press to force three Marist turnovers, as Pryor delivered five points to put her at 25 points during the stretch.
The Red Foxes went back to Tarul who tried to eliminate the funk with a layup, while Lee did the same to put Marist up 66-57 with 5:53 remaining.
Sacred Heart had a chance to make things more interesting but did not deliver at the free-throw line, going 2-for-7 from the stripe in the final quarter.
Marist built a more comfortable gap in the MAAC standings with the victory, along with losses from both Saint Peter’s, Merrimack and Iona. The Red Foxes currently sit at the No. 5 seed with three games remaining before Atlantic City.
“We still haven’t clinched a bye which I think is really important,” said Doughty. “We want to go down to Saint Peter’s on Saturday and hopefully perform similarly to how we did up here.”
Marist will take a day off before an important road matchup against Saint Peter’s on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Graphic by Kira Crutcher
Photo from John Jankowski
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky. Sign up to receive daily alerts here.