Marist lost its second consecutive game in a disappointing fashion at Rider, 56-43. As the Red Foxes looked to rebound after a blown ten-point lead at home against Merrimack, they struggled to find their rhythm and missed some of their key players.
This was the fifth straight missed game for sophomore guard Danielle Williamsen, who was a big part of Marist’s 62-49 over Rider on Jan. 10, scoring 20 points. Fellow sophomore guard Chloe Escanillas has filled in during her absence.
Rider has had a surprising season; despite their 6-19 overall and 4-12 MAAC record under first year headcoach Jackie Hartzell, the Broncs were almost unanimously picked to finish 13th of 13 in the conference before the season. Their unexpected play has gotten them into a position where they can make a run at 10th in the conference, which gets them into the MAAC tournament.
Marist entered play at eighth in the conference with a 10-17 overall and 7-10 conference record, barely holding onto a spot in the conference tournament.
The story of the Merrimack loss for Marist on Thursday was their turnovers, as they allowed 36 points off them. The first quarter saw Marist continue this sloppy play early, committing three turnovers in the first three minutes of the game. They settled in well on the backs of redshirt senior guard Lexie Tarul and freshman forward Justine Henry, who combined for 13 of the Red Foxes’ 15 first-quarter points. They held Rider to 10 to take an early lead.
After a promising start, Marist could not find that rhythm again and quickly found themselves trailing 23-21 after Rider scored three straight threes, two of them from graduate student forward Kristina Efoko.
At the six-minute mark in the second quarter, Tarul got help back to the locker room by a trainer. She would miss the rest of the quarter, and Marist never quite recovered. She not only led the team in points with seven at the time of her exit, but she also led the team in points with 22 in their previous game against Rider.
Marist struggled the rest of the way in the second quarter, allowing a 16-7 Rider run, to go into the half trailing 30-24. This was highlighted by a buzzer-beating layup by junior guard Aliya McIver off an offensive rebound.
The Red Foxes this season have lived and died by their three-point shooting, ranking fourth in the conference in attempts and third in percentage made with 35.7%. Today, the shots just were not falling as they were 1-10 in the first half from beyond the arc.
Without the shots falling, Marist changed its strategy to start the second half, shooting only two three-pointers in the third. In the first half of the quarter, this approach didn’t work, as the Red Foxes did not score until four minutes into the period.
Efoko continued to cause trouble for Marist, as she brought her game total to 15 points, adding another three. She finished with 17 points. The Broncs also got a solid performance out of McIver, who scored 19 points and also leads the conference in minutes per game with 37.4.
Around halfway through the third quarter, Marist started to run a full-court press. Marist forced three turnovers the rest of the quarter. This allowed them to cut the lead from 41-26 down to 42-33. However, they couldn’t hold this momentum and trailed 46-33 at the end of the quarter.
Rider gave Marist an opportunity to get back into the game in the fourth, as the Broncs only scored two points in the first four and a half minutes, but Marist could never take advantage. They continued to struggle with turnovers, giving it away five times, as well as with shotmaking, only making one of their six attempts. Putting the ball in the net was the main issue for the Red Foxes, as they shot 15-45 (33.3%), including 1-14 from three.
Henry had a solid game for Marist, scoring 19 points on 50% shooting. This was the eighth of nine consectivue game where she scored more than ten points. She also added ten rebounds to lead the team.
Tarul checked back into the game at the start of the third quarter, but she was never able to quite get back to the play the Red Foxes need out of her. Before exiting in the second quarter, she had seven points. After returning in the third, she only scored one more point the rest of the way, shooting 37.5% from the field for the game.
Marist will look to lock up a spot in the MAAC Tournament over its last three games. This run will start next Thursday at 7 p.m. against Manhattan, who they beat 62-57 earlier in the year.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo by Quinn DiFiore
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