Marist women’s basketball saw its four-game winning streak snapped by Merrimack in a 55-47 defeat thursday night. The Warriors kept their chances of securing a first-round bye alive with the victory, aiming to surpass Saint Peter’s who would need to lose to Canisius on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Thalia Shepard led the charge for the Warriors with 20 points while redshirt junior guard/forward Rose Caso followed with 14 points herself in the win.
Freshman guard Danielle Williamsen stayed in her groove with 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line for Marist. Sophomore guard Julia Corsentino added 11 points off the bench, seven of which came in the second frame.
Junior center Morgan Lee put up 12 points herself but coughed up 10 of the Red Foxes’ 20 total turnovers— the most turnovers she has committed in a collegiate game.
Both sides opened flat on the offensive end, with just six combined points at the 1:28 mark of the first quarter. Marist gave it away seven times in the period, but Merrimack somehow outdid that total with eight turnovers of their own.
The Red Foxes scored four points in the opening frame, failing to make a shot from the field. However, the Warriors’ capitalization on this offensive performance was not strong, and they held just a 7-4 lead going into the second quarter.
Corsentino provided a spark to the Marist offense with a layup to open the quarter and Williamsen scored her first basket of the game shortly after. Marist would piece together a 10-0 run over the middle of the second quarter, capped off by a Williamsen 3-pointer to hold a 16-10.
Shepard and junior guard Lydia Melaschenko responded for the Warriors, each drilling a 3-pointer with under two minutes to go in the quarter, but the Red Foxes still led 23-18 at the half. Marist turned things around after the zero made field goal effort in the first quarter, making seven shots in the second en route to the 19-point frame.
Merrimack took a crack on the offensive end in the third period, delivering 21 points in the frame. All 21 points came from three players, as Caso, Shepard and sophomore guard Paloma Garcia each scored seven third-quarter points.
Lee delivered on a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter to help keep the Red Foxes in it, but Merrimack took a 39-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
Marist went on another scoring drought to open up the final period with Williamsen offering the first fourth quarter points on a layup with 5:40 remaining.
Junior guard Jackie Piddock and Lee each scored inside the arc to pull the Red Foxes within four, but a layup and two free throws from Shepard pushed the Merrimack lead to 51-43 with under a minute to go to seal it for the Warriors.
The Red Foxes entered the contest locked into either the four or five seed nonetheless. They will take on Mount St. Mary’s at home on Saturday at 2 p.m.—the same team they will face in their first game of the MAAC tournament.
Edited by Dan Aulbach
Graphic From Raegan Van Zandt, Photo from Cassidy Connors
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