Marist women’s basketball returns with a core foundation and a drive to get back to a MAAC championship for the first time since lifting the trophy at the end of the 2021 season.
Less than five minutes into the third quarter of last year’s MAAC quarterfinals, Marist women’s basketball found itself trailing Mount St. Mary’s by 27 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Red Foxes came out possessed, proving to MAAC fans everywhere that they had doubted Marist a little too much. Led by sophomore Danielle Williamsen, the Red Foxes put their heads down and grinded to cut the Mount’s lead to one with 40 seconds left.
Despite the valiant effort, Marist fell short by three points, ending their season. Had the Red Foxes completed the 27-point comeback, it would have been the third-largest Division I NCAAW comeback victory ever.
“We were proud of the fight we put up in that game, but we did not finish the job,” said head coach Erin Doughty. “There is motivation there; our first half performance kind of put us in a hole that was really hard to get out of. We went to work; we have a mentality that we don’t want something like that to happen again. We want to be in Atlantic City for longer.”
Williamsen shot 50% from the field, leading the team with 22 points in the game. Off the court, she stepped into a leadership role, beginning to find her voice in team huddles in the conference tournament.
“We have encouraged her to continue to use her voice and have been helping her through being a marked player now,” said Doughty. “We have talked about how she is going to be on top of the opponent’s scout sheets. Teaching her how to learn how people are going to guard her, how people are going to take what you like away and still find ways to be effective.”
Last year, the Red Foxes were placed at 11 in the preseason coaches’ poll, removing the team from the playoff picture before the season started. In just one season, Marist has jumped to fourth in the preseason poll.
“We have a fairly consistent roster, so people know who is on our team and they know what we can do,” said Doughty.
Danielle Williamsen
Williamsen looks to have a big season for the Red Foxes, improving off her impressive first-year campaign. After starting in 28 out of 29 games, Williamsen averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, good enough to be selected to the MAAC All-Rookie team. The guard created differences on both sides of the ball for the Red Foxes, leading the team in free-throw percentage (.829) while finishing second in three-point percentage (.327). She also led the team in steals with 31. Williamsen’s best performance of the season was the team’s final game against the Mount, playing a pivotal role in the team’s comeback. In the fourth quarter alone, Williamsen scored 10 points along with three assists on 3-pointers.
Williamsen, alongside redshirt senior guard Lexie Tarul, was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team.
Adjusting Without Lee
The Red Foxes return to the court retaining the majority of its core from last season. One notable exception to this is the departure of center Morgan Lee, who announced her transfer to Clemson University during the offseason in April.
Lee ended her final season in Poughkeepsie leading the team in many statistical categories, including: points per game (12.6), rebounds per game (7.7), blocks per game (2.4) and field goal percentage (42.4%). The center also recorded six double-doubles over the course of the season.
“[Lee] was obviously a big presence inside and her ability to shoot the three from the post-position will be missed,” said Doughty.
With Lee absent, the Red Foxes need to pivot their game to a different post player. At Marist, Lee provided a force in the paint while also stretching the floor as a spot-up three-point shooter. Lee finished last season tied for second on the team in three-point attempts (104).
“You don’t replace Morgan with one person; you replace her collectively. I think we will have more balance this year and look a little different because we don’t have such an inside presence on the block like we did last year,” said Doughty.
Though Lee transferred out of Marist, the Red Foxes gained transfers of their own, one being junior forward Karly Fischer from MAAC foe, Fairfield.
“Karly Fischer will probably have the biggest impact, because we need help in the post position,” said Doughty. “She is familiar with the league; she played at the top team in the league [Fairfield], so she knows what it takes to be successful.”
“She has a lot of versatility. She can do things with her back to the basket; she can do things facing up. She is mobile, so she allows us to be a little more active and aggressive on the defensive end,” Doughty added. “I think for us to be as good as we would like to be, she needs to be an All-MAAC caliber player.”
Without their top scorer from last season, Marist has to have an even stronger focus on improving offensive efficiency. The Red Foxes finished in the middle of the pack amongst fellow MAAC teams, shooting .384 from the field and .305% from behind the arc. Marist ended the season with 1,795 points, seventh in the MAAC with an average of 57.9 points per game.
“We struggled with turnovers and field goal percentage. We worked a lot on skill development, we worked a lot on motion offense, and we worked a lot on our man-to-man principles,” said Doughty.
New Faces
Alongside Fischer, Marist added two sophomore guard transfers and a freshman from Long Island. Sophomore guard Kasey Bretones joins the Red Foxes from UMASS Amherst. Last season, Bretones made 14 appearances with the Minutemen, averaging 6.7 minutes per game. Despite her limited play time, Bretones shot .533 from the field and .570 from three-point range.
The other sophomore transfer guard, Elle Bruschuk, transferred to Marist from Wright State. From Illinois, Bruschuk finished her high school career with 1,059 points, 853 rebounds, 313 assists, 200 steals and 151 blocks.
Freshman guard Justine Henry is the only freshman on this year’s roster. Henry played five years of varsity basketball at the Mary Louis Academy in Queens, where she exceeded 1,000 points in her career.
“Justine is a very dynamic player. She has great length and a very diverse skill set. She is going to see time at the guard and the four spot for us. I expect her to have an immediate impact,” said Doughty. “She is a freshman, so a lot of the time it is up and down, but she has the confidence of her teammates and her coaches and I think that will go a long way.”
The Captains
This year, the four seniors, Jackie Piddock, Ciara Croker, Morgan Tompkins and Lexie Tarul were named captains for the 2025-26 season.
“We talked about it in the locker room. It isn’t just about the four seniors being captains; they all earned it in different ways, and they all have different strengths as leaders,” said Doughty.
Piddock was the only player to start in all 31 games for the Red Foxes last season, finishing third on the team in three-point percentage and free-throw percentage.
“Jackie is our floor general; you always know what you are going to get from Jackie,” said Doughty. “It is going to be 110% in whatever she is doing, whether it is school, basketball or bible study. Whatever she is doing, you know she is prepared and gives everything she can every day.”
Croker stepped up as a starter last season after making only one start her sophomore year. Croker started in 30 games last season for the Red Foxes, grabbing 4.7 rebounds per game and blocking 12 shots, good for second and third on the team, respectively.
“Ciara is Miss Marist; she takes such great pride in playing for us and being a Marist Red Fox. She has such a competitive spirit and wants it more than anyone I have ever seen here. She loves to organize, loves to be vocal, loves to encourage and she has a really great work ethic,” said Doughty.
Tompkins has not had the easiest journey at Marist, battling injuries and limited play time. Unfortunately, Tompkins will miss the entirety of her senior season due to injury, but will continue to stand by her team off the court this season.
“One of our team rules is to be a good teammate and Morgan exemplifies that in the way she looks after people, the way she encourages people and the way she puts the team before herself,” said Doughty.
After transferring from Fordham University and overcoming injuries, Tarul has found her footing as a Red Fox. In her second season with Marist last year, Tarul averaged 11.5 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists per game.
Leading the team in 3-pointers with 69 on the season, Tarul is also a defensive double threat, finishing second in blocks [14] and third in steals [28].
“Lexi is solid and steady. She is someone who has been on the floor with us a ton. She is kind of our quiet leader, she is the mother,” said Doughty. “She is the one our players all go to when they need stuff. Everyone trusts her and relies on her.”
Looking at the Season
The Red Foxes open MAAC play in Maryland versus Mount St. Mary’s, the team that ended their season last year. Before conference play, Marist has a difficult non-conference schedule to get through.
“When I worked with coach Brian Giorgis, we never wanted our hardest game to be in conference. We wanted to be prepared for whatever we would face in the conference,” said Doughty.
The team’s season opens on the road against the University at Albany, which has been on top of the American East Conference, winning the conference championship last year. After taking on the Great Danes, Marist will play five competitive non-conference games at McCann Arena before flying to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam to play Louisiana State University and either Miami (OH) or Washington State.
“The Virgin Islands will be a lot of fun, continuing to match up against programs that are really successful and where we want to be, showing that competitive level that we have to have every night. LSU will be the ultimate test,” said Doughty.
As for the MAAC season opener, the Mount lost two key seniors last year in guards Jo Raflo and Anna LeMaster. Raflo and LeMaster ended the season with a combined 804 points. Raflo recorded 18 points in the quarterfinal win against the Red Foxes, shooting 7-for-15 from the field.
Fairfield is the team to beat once again in the MAAC after winning back-to-back championships and advancing to the NCAA tournament. Fairfield has a powerhouse duo between junior guards Kaety L’Amoreaux and Meghan Andersen.
Andersen earned All-MAAC First Team honors and MAAC championship MVP last year as a sophomore, while L’Amoreaux was named to the All-MAAC second team, averaging 12.4 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 4.3 assists per game.
With a returning core and unfinished business at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, the Red Foxes enter the season determined to return to Atlantic City and prove they belong at the top of the MAAC.
Edited by Mike Schiavone and Ben Leeds
Graphic by Xavier Angel
Photos by Marist Athletics
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