The stage for Atlantic City is set, and it became official just before halftime of the Marist and Saint Peter’s matchup. In what had the potential to be a win and clinch situation, both the Red Foxes and Peacocks will be booking a trip to the MAAC tournament with a Rider loss against Siena.
Marist’s familiarity with close games came in handy against Saint Peter’s, as the Red Foxes won 48-45.
With 29.7 seconds left on the clock and 47-45 on the scoreboard, Marist held a two-point lead, despite trailing by double digits coming out of the first quarter. Both teams huddled around their respective benches with the Peacocks drawing up a plan to get one more basket on the board.
Saint Peter’s shot the ball, and it clanged off the rim and ended up in the arms of sophomore guard Chloe Escanillias for the rebound and a Marist win.
Marist survived a gritty comeback win, with freshman guard/forward Justine Henry leading the way in Jersey City and keeping the Red Foxes in the game.
At halftime, Marist trailed 29-21, with Henry accounting for more than half of the Red Foxes’ points.
Offensively, Marist struggled until the second half, shooting just 7-for-23 from the field in the first 20 minutes of play. On the other end of the floor, Saint Peter’s worked to exploit the Marist post players.
The Red Foxes attempted to rally back in the second, outscoring the Peacocks by three, heading into the half trailing by eight.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Saint Peter’s entered a seven-minute scoreless drought. The drought allowed Marist space to get back into the game. Graduate student guard Lexie Tarul pulled up on the wing for her first 3-pointer of the game, bringing the game within one.
Off the bench, sophomores Julia Corsentino and Kate Robison provided the energy that the team needed to stay in the game.
“A lot of grit and toughness, a big spark for us was Kate Robbins. She came in the third quarter with a lot of energy and did a great job defensively when we were struggling inside,” said head coach Erin Doughty on the ESPN broadcast.
The fourth quarter opened with Marist’s first lead of the game. Tarul shot 3-for-7 beyond the arc, contributing on both ends of the floor in the late Red Fox push, adding eight rebounds.
Senior forward Ciara Croker heated up when the team needed her in the fourth, with eight of her 12 points coming within the final 10 minutes of the game.
With four minutes left in the game, Saint Peter’s took all the momentum on a eight point run in a game that was theirs to lose. With a timeout in her pocket and limited time remaining, Doughty rallied her team around her.
“You could see the doubt start to creep in. We have had a lot of close games. A lot of games have come down to the last possession. We built a seven-point lead, they came right back and then we ended up taking the lead. We wanted to settle and continue what we were doing all game and take away those last couple of possessions and execute on both ends of the floor,” said Doughty.
With 40 seconds left, Henry, the lead scorer, had the ball in her hand. But instead of taking it herself as the Peacocks looked to double-team her, Croker drove to the block unguarded and ready. Henry found Croker, and the lead belonged to Marist, 47-45.
Marist’s first lead came in the fourth, and the Red Foxes showed up when it mattered most, in the final ten minutes. If not for Henry, the comeback win would have proved impossible without the freshman’s double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Red Foxes will look to close out regular season play on Saturday, away against Siena at 2 p.m, hoping to continue in the win column and build momentum towards the win-or-go-home MAAC Tournament.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Graphic by Cara Lacey
Photo by Xavier Angel
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.
