Redshirt junior guard Lexie Tarul decided she did not want to play overtime, finishing an acrobatic layup with .8 seconds remaining to give Marist a 63-61 victory over the Peacocks.
Tarul finished as the leading scorer for the Red Foxes with 20 points, marking back-to-back 20+ point performances for the junior. The Red Foxes earned a first round bye in the MAAC tournament with the victory.
Moments before Tarul’s game-winning effort, St. Peter’s forward Fatmata Janneh appeared to send the game into overtime, knocking down a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining to tie the game. Janneh finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season.
Freshman guard Danielle Williamsen posted her fourth consecutive double-digit game with 12 points. Sophomore guards Malea Egan and Julia Corsentino each provided nine points off the bench for the Red Foxes, while junior center Morgan Lee finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Tarul showed her love for first halves again, scoring the first five points for the Red Foxes. Lee broke that streak with a layup on a nice postmove to put Marist up 7-6 early.
Marist came out of the media timeout on fire, as Tarul, Egan and Williamsen all delivered 3-pointers. The Red Foxes turned it over six times in the opening quarter, but hid that with a 6-for-10 performance from the field against Saint Peter’s feisty zone defense.
Janneh got her day going to start the second quarter, executing on a pair of and-ones. The Peacocks did not slow down, as graduate student guard/forward Laila Grant connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, cutting Marist’s lead to 26-24.
Grant stayed in rhythm with her fourth 3-pointer at the 4:51 mark to give her 12 points early on. However, Tarul one-upped her with a 3-pointer of her own to bring her to 13 points.
Saint Peter’s continued to feast on the offensive end, going 9-for-16 from the field with four 3-pointers in the second quarter when it was all said and done. Janneh and Grant were at a combined 25 points at the break for the Peacocks.
The Red Foxes were shooting 55% from the field to the Peacocks’ 41.9%, but Saint Peter’s attempted 11 more shots in the first half. Marist attempted nine more free-throws, which played into the differential, but also had 10 turnovers to the Peacocks’ five at the break.
Both sides struggled to get in any kind of a flow on offense out of the half, going a combined 2-for-14 from the field at the 3:58 mark of the third quarter. Saint Peter’s continued to collapse on Lee when she got the ball in the paint, applying pressure to limit her chances to score.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Marist ripped off a 9-2 run to end the third quarter and put them in front 48-46. Tarul, Egan and sophomore guard Julia Corsentino each knocked down 3-pointers in the burst to save what would have been a poor offensive third quarter.
Marist and Saint Peter’s went back-and-forth on the offensive end to start the fourth quarter. Egan started it off with her third 3-pointer in as many attempts while freshman forward Linda Amaning got it done on the inside with a layup.
Williamsen then knocked down her second shot from beyond the arc to put her in double-figures, but Janneh answered with a layup to put her at 20 points. Janneh then delivered a 3-pointer with 3:39 remaining to tie things up at 56.
Offense stalled until junior forward Ciara Croker finished a layup for her first points of the game with 49 seconds to go to put Marist in front by two.
The Peacocks failed to convert on their next possession and were forced to play the foul game. Williamsen went 1-for-2 from the line and Janneh quickly scored a layup with 22.3 seconds to go.
After Janneh’s game-tying shot aforementioned, Marist called a timeout to set up an inbounds play and junior guard Jackie Piddock found Tarul right around the free-throw line. Tarul drove to the basket and finished the off-balance layup with just under a second remaining, eventually winning it for the Red Foxes.
Marist passed Mount St. Mary’s in the MAAC standings after their loss to Siena today, putting them in fourth place with an 11-7 conference record.
The Red Foxes will look to stretch their winning streak to five in a road matchup at Merrimack on Thursday, March 6 at 7 p.m.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo from Cassidy Connors
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