Senior guard Jackie Piddock put on a career performance on Sunday afternoon, leading Marist to their first win of the season, 78-77, in an overtime thriller.
Marist maintained the lead for all but two and a half minutes of play in the close victory.
Ending regulation with 18 points, shooting 4-for-5 from the 3-point line, and recording five rebounds, Piddock was determined to get the team’s first win against Holy Cross.
“She has spent a lot of extra time working on her shot,” said head coach Erin Doughty. “She has the ability to score and has always been one of those players who figures out what her team needs her to do to win. And today we needed her to hit shots and she hit big ones.”
Recording a game-high 33 minutes of play, junior forward Karly Fischer fouled senior guard Simone Foreman on the block, sending Fischer to the bench with five personal fouls and three minutes remaining in overtime. With two opportunities from the charity stripe, Foreman missed both shots.
The Crusaders outrebounded Marist 35-42 and 2-10 on offensive rebounds. With the Red Foxes’ post position at a height disadvantage, Eddy grabbed an offensive rebound and looked up to find a cutting Foreman for the layup and a one-point lead.
With 20 seconds left on the clock, Henry grabbed the ball off a missed shot from Holy Cross and immediately called a timeout.
Advancing the ball to half court, Piddock found Henry off the inbound. Henry jab stepped toward center court, driving to her left, where the whistle blew, calling a charge on the freshman.
In sync, the entirety of McCann Arena jumped to their feet, voicing their disagreement with the ref’s call, giving the Crusaders’ possession and the opportunity to advance the ball. Holy Cross found the foul line once again with senior forward Meg Cahalan shooting 1-for-2.
With 13 seconds on the clock, head coach Erin Doughty called her final timeout. Piddock received the inbound immediately, handing the ball off to redshirt senior Lexie Tarul. With Piddock wrapping around the arc, Tarul slipped the ball back to Piddock, striding to the basket for an and-one to end the game.
“Tarul and Piddock, that is exactly what you want your seniors to do during crunch time,” said Doughty. “We shifted play calls from the post to our guards and we needed different people to make plays.”
With eight seconds left and both teams out of timeouts, the refs made what could have been a game-changing mistake in calling a timeout for Holy Cross, stopping Flannigan from bringing up the ball and shutting down the fast-paced transition at half court.
With less than five seconds on the clock, the Marist defense remained in a tight man-to-man press, as the clock expired for the team’s first win.
The Red Foxes put on their strongest start of the season in the win, with a season-high 39 points in the first half.
Tarul placed Marist on the board early, Eddy slapping the wrist of Tarul behind the arc and sending her to the line, making all three.
With continuous back-to-back play throughout the first quarter, Tarul’s three foul shots gave Marist just the edge they needed to maintain the lead.
To start the season this year, the Marist offense struggled to get Tarul active and involved early. That was not the case in the matchup against Holy Cross, with the senior going to the locker room at the half with eight.
Halfway through the second quarter, junior forward Karly Fischer received the ball at mid-range, where the forward attempted a step-back jumper. The ball bounced back into play off the rim, where Holy Cross grabbed the rebound and Fischer fell to the ground, wincing in pain.
For the remainder of the quarter, Fischer remained with the athletic trainer, returning to play after halftime. In Fischer’s absence, the Red Fox guards stepped up on defense, with sophomore guard Danielle Williamsen and senior guard Jackie Piddock each grabbing three rebounds.
Coming out of the half, the Red Foxes controlled the third quarter on offense. Marist started the quarter on a 3-0 run, pushing the team’s lead to 44-37.
Piddock nearly quadrupled her own points in the third, shooting 2-for-2 from the 3-point line and 3-for-4 from the field.
After a low shooting quarter in the second, Marist shot over 50% from everywhere in McCann Arena, helping the Red Foxes grow their largest lead of the season, 58-49.
Spreading the court on offense with each Red Fox involved, Henry, Piddock and Williamsen entered the fourth with double-digit points.
“We got contributions from everyone, it is awesome to see Henry have two double-doubles already as a freshman,” said Doughty. “Tarul was finally looking like herself out there and finding her shot and hunting for shots. And then Piddock, who is always our heart and soul, for her to finally have a game this year where she was able to knock down some shots and obviously, the biggest one of the game was really great to see.”
Holy Cross opened the fourth quarter with a full-court man-to-man press after struggling to shut down the Marist offense in a 19-point quarter for the Red Foxes. The full court defense rattled the Red Foxes’ momentum and shifted the game into Holy Cross’s favor.
Senior guard Simone Foreman came to Poughkeepsie off a double-double against Brown earlier this week. Foreman led her team with 19 points and eight rebounds.
The starting five for Marist all recorded over 35 minutes of play time, with Piddock, Tarul and Henry all finding double-digit points.
In just her fourth game at Marist, Henry notched her second double-double, leading the Red Foxes with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Marist will continue its offensive momentum at home on Wednesday, Nov. 19, versus Stony Brook at 7 p.m.
Edited by August Lieberman
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo by Xavier Angel
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