MAAC Tournament

The Marist Red Foxes donned their customary white jerseys and played 40 minutes of hard fought basketball. The only thing to change between games one and two of the 2010 MAAC tournament?

The team on the losing end.

In a similar fashion to how Marist captured its first round win against Canisius, the Red Foxes applied substantial defensive pressure in their second game at the 2010 MAAC Tournament at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY and defeated the Niagara Purple Eagles, 69-47.

The win allows Marist to advance to the MAAC Championship game for the seventh consecutive year.

Niagara, the fifth seed in the conference tournament, defeated several top MAAC teams, including Fairfield, Manhattan, and the Red Foxes during the regular season.

Unfortunately for MAAC Coach of The Year Kendra Faustin's squad, the Purple Eagles offense was severely stymied by a lack of production by star junior Liz Flooks, a forward that poured in 17 points against Manhattan in Niagara's first round MAAC tournament game against the Manhattan Jaspers.

"I thought Corielle [Yarde] did a great job on Liz Flooks, to hold her to two points," Marist coach Giorgis said. "This tournament so far has really been about our defense."

Niagara opened up the game on 2 of 14 shooting and the Red Foxes were able to take a quick 12-4 lead at the 13:39 mark in the first half.

Even without Jennifer McNamee, an outstanding shooter for the Purple Eagles that is out for the season, Niagara routinely pulls the trigger on long range shots.

Flooks and MAAC Rookie of The Year Kayla Stroman will dial in from long range often, and looked to repeat the dominant three point shooting that allowed them to down Marist 69-59 on Jan. 31.

The Purple Eagles finished that contest with a 57.1 shooting percentage on 8 of 14 shooting from beyond the arc.

"Obviously, the three-point game can keep [a team] in [a game]," Giorgis said. "I think we did a good job with [defending] that."

In this contest, Marist held the Purple Eagles to a 20 percent shooting clip on just 4 of 20 from three-point range.

A Rachele Folino basket at the 12:22 mark started a 10-2 run for Niagara that saw the Purple Eagles tie the game at 14.

Marist closed out the half on a 6-2 run and maintained a 30-21 halftime lead. Marist senior Rachele Fitz, who was named the MAAC Player of the Year earlier this week, scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half.

"[Fitz] can score in a variety of ways," Giorgis said. "She gets to the free throw line, and makes shots. That's what you need from your player of the year."

Outside of Fitz, the rest of the Red Foxes remained quiet on the stat sheet in the first half of play with no other player scoring more than four points.

Searching for production from players other than Fitz, sophomore guard Corielle Yarde was there to answer the call for her team after having a fairly uneventful first half.

Following a 16-point, nine rebound performance against the Canisius Golden Griffins in Marist's first MAAC tournament game, Yarde contributed just two points and three rebounds on 1 of 6 shooting in 17 minutes against Niagara.

Once the intermission was over, Yarde began to contribute.

The All-MAAC Second Team selection finished the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

"In the second half, I adjusted more to the defense," Yarde said. "I was trying to pull up because they were collapsing. It opened up things a little bit."

A Yarde basket, along with contributions from Fitz and Erica Allenspach allowed the Red Foxes to take a 16-point advantage with just under 18 minutes remaining in the contest.

Meghan Waterman, who finished with eight points and five boards for the Purple Eagles, ignited a 9-0 run that saw Niagara whittle down the Red Fox lead to single digits, and make the score 39-32.

Niagara kept the score within 12 points, until Marist began a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach. Maria Laterza, Kristine Best, Emily Stallings, Elise Caron and Fitz all scored points during the run.

The Purple Eagles, who committed 12 turnovers and shot 31.3 percent from the field, were held scoreless during the last 4:14 of the contest.

In the championship game, the Red Foxes will take on the Fairfield Stags.

The number three seed in the tournament, Fairfield is one of three teams to defeat Marist during the regular season.

Currently in the midst of an impressive nine game winning streak, a whole team effort will be needed from Marist in order to win their fifth consecutive MAAC championship.

"[Rachele Fitz] did a great job, Corielle [Yarde] did a great job and [so did] the supporting cast," Giorgis said. "We haven't even seen the best from Erica yet. We hope tomorrow we can put it all together offensively, and bring home another gold ball to Poughkeepsie."

Although a MAAC Championship is highly valued, a more tantalizing prize awaits the victor of the MAAC tournament in the form of an automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Division 1 Basketball Tournament.

"We've been waiting for this [opportunity], and I think we've worked very hard," Fitz said. "These past few games have been good, but it's going to be a battle tomorrow, and we have to be ready for it. This is what you play your whole season for.