ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Hanging from the ceiling above the stage, far beyond the basket, 20 banners display the last 10 champions in both MAAC men’s and women’s basketball. Marist can only be found once; their lone title in the past 10 years came in 2021.
If you squint, and I mean really squint, at the two banners in the middle, you could see the list of all-time MAAC champions. With your eyes nearly closed, you’re better off shutting them and thinking back to a time when things were different. So different.
The Red Foxes used to be feared. In Brian Giorgis’ second year as head coach, Marist won the 2004 MAAC Championship, opening the floodgates on a dynasty. The Red Foxes went on to win nine straight conference tournaments from 2006 to 2014.
McCann Arena was enchanted. The Red Foxes were nationally ranked in the Top 25 in three separate seasons, once as high as 19th in the country. Marist played host to power conference schools such as Villanova, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Ohio State and Virginia. These schools were traveling to Poughkeepsie — that’s how nationally relevant this program was.
They even had success in the NCAA Tournament, winning a total of five games in March Madness; two of them came in 2007, when the Red Foxes reached the Sweet 16, where they lost to the legendary Pat Summitt and Tennessee Lady Volunteers.
Marist’s 11 MAAC titles are still the most in the conference, which accounts for more than a third of the MAAC’s 41 all-time tournaments — and Marist only joined the conference in 1997.
But, since their last championship in 2021, the Red Foxes have been in a drought: they haven’t even won a game in any of the last five tournaments.
What Now?
The five consecutive losses in the MAAC Tournament have been uniquely frustrating. They scored 29 points in their 2022 loss to Saint Peter’s. A first-round exit to No. 10 Rider in Giorgis’ final season in 2023. They won six games in a last-place finish in 2024, then got bounced by Mount St. Mary’s in the first round.
2025 was different. It was fun. There was promise and hope.
In a rematch with Mount St. Mary’s, the Mountaineers leapt to a 27-point lead late in the third quarter. Marist nearly did the impossible, shrinking the deficit to one with under a minute to play, but then sophomore guard Julia Corsentino’s game-winning attempt clipped the rim but didn’t fall.
The team was somber, but proud afterwards. How could they not be? The last 13 minutes of the game were pure magic. Sure, they lost, but who could blame them for being optimistic about the future?
Danielle Williamsen emerged as the star of the comeback, playing beyond her freshman status. She scored 10 in the furious fourth quarter comeback and assisted on three 3-point makes.
Williamsen and nearly the entire roster returned. They had tournament experience that created hunger and, in effect, expectations. In the Preseason Coaches’ Poll, Marist landed at fourth in the conference.
Injuries hampered them throughout the duration of the season: Williamsen missed the last nine games, junior guard Malea Egan was sidelined for the season after an injury in November and senior forward Morgan Tompkins missed the entire year. Senior forward Ciara Croker, sophomore guard Elle Bruschuk and junior forward Kate Robbins all missed time at various points as well.
Marist trailed by as many as 20 points, but similar to last year, they inched their way back into the game thanks to a ferocious full-court press. This time, the closest they got was five points — they never had the chance to tie or take the lead.
There was not much enthusiasm in the air when head coach Erin Doughty, senior guard Jackie Piddock, redshirt senior guard Lexie Tarul and Croker took the podium in the press room tucked away in Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
There are far more questions than answers. Piddock, Tarul and Croker leave gaping holes as they graduate, and the threat of the transfer portal looms large in this day and age.
At this time last year, Williamsen’s potential was sky high. She was named to the All-MAAC Rookie Team, then got the nod for the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team. Though effective at times, her season did not stack up well compared to the hype when she was healthy. It’s hard to picture what to expect from Williamsen the next time she steps on the court, when she’ll suddenly be an upperclassman.
For Piddock, Croker and Tompkins, who each played a season for Giorgis before Doughty took over, they depart having gone winless in a tournament they once dominated.
“Obviously, that’s disappointing, not to win a single game,” said Piddock. “You win and lose games, that happens. We won games in our careers as well, just not down here.”
“At Marist, expectations are high. I tease [Giorgis] all the time that he left me with unrealistic expectations,” Doughty added. “The college athletics landscape is different… we can’t do it the way [Giorgis] did it, because it’s not the same world.”
In a much more balanced conference, no one is expecting Marist to win nine straight championships. But, with the history of winning within the program, five straight seasons without a postseason victory is almost unheard of.
Doughty knows it too. She was a player or on the coaching staff for all of Marist’s 11 titles; not only does she know what it feels like to be the last team standing, she knows what it means to the Marist community.
“I want our players to experience it, because I know what it did for our school, what it did for our athletics department, what it did for the people who wore the jersey,” she said.
“I want everyone that wears a Marist jersey to experience it.”
Erin Doughty
Edited by Max Rosen
Photo from Quinn DiFiore
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