2008 Woodie Awards
Foxes roll in battle of MAAC unbeatens, take sole possession of first place
Teamwork and talking carry Foxes through
Eric Zedalis
Issue date: 1/25/07 Section: Sports
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After a shaky start that saw Marist fall behind 6-0, the Red Foxes regrouped, and dominated the Iona Gaels 70-49 for its sixth consecutive win.
Two thousand one hundred sixty-three people were on hand to watch the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) unbeatens go head-to-head for conference supremacy. Marist improved to a perfect 8-0 (15-4 overall) while Iona fell to 7-1 (12-7 overall).
Marist got a good taste of the MAAC's pre-season player of the year, Martina Weber, as Iona went to its heralded 6'5 forward early and often. She finished the game with 23 points, but more importantly, no other Gael player finished in double-figures.
Head coach Brian Giorgis said that heading into this game, while he realized Weber was an outstanding player, he did not fix his game-plan around her.
"We want to play defense the way that we play defense, and we'll try to adjust as we go through," he said. "We needed to put more pressure on the high-low pass. We needed to put some pressure on their guards so they wouldn't have as good a look."
Giorgis said that while the Red Foxes struggled defending the high-low pass because of Weber's size, they were able to put pressure on Iona's guards and disrupt the Gaels' offense.
"[Weber] is such a great player. We had a lot of trouble defending her in the high-low. You think you have it, and all of a sudden there's this hand going up there and catching the ball. I think we started to put a little more pressure on the pass, and that helped us. We put good pressure on the guards so they wouldn't have as easy a look. I think our guards did a great job defending their guards."
Iona head coach Anthony Bozzella said that Marist is very well-schooled on defense, and do a good job of taking away the three-point shot.
"I think they talk very well. They slide their feet very well. They're extremely well-coached, and they close-out as well as any team in the league," he said. "So even though we have a great interior game, when we try to kick it back out, they get out there so quickly. They take away the three's."
Two thousand one hundred sixty-three people were on hand to watch the two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) unbeatens go head-to-head for conference supremacy. Marist improved to a perfect 8-0 (15-4 overall) while Iona fell to 7-1 (12-7 overall).
Marist got a good taste of the MAAC's pre-season player of the year, Martina Weber, as Iona went to its heralded 6'5 forward early and often. She finished the game with 23 points, but more importantly, no other Gael player finished in double-figures.
Head coach Brian Giorgis said that heading into this game, while he realized Weber was an outstanding player, he did not fix his game-plan around her.
"We want to play defense the way that we play defense, and we'll try to adjust as we go through," he said. "We needed to put more pressure on the high-low pass. We needed to put some pressure on their guards so they wouldn't have as good a look."
Giorgis said that while the Red Foxes struggled defending the high-low pass because of Weber's size, they were able to put pressure on Iona's guards and disrupt the Gaels' offense.
"[Weber] is such a great player. We had a lot of trouble defending her in the high-low. You think you have it, and all of a sudden there's this hand going up there and catching the ball. I think we started to put a little more pressure on the pass, and that helped us. We put good pressure on the guards so they wouldn't have as easy a look. I think our guards did a great job defending their guards."
Iona head coach Anthony Bozzella said that Marist is very well-schooled on defense, and do a good job of taking away the three-point shot.
"I think they talk very well. They slide their feet very well. They're extremely well-coached, and they close-out as well as any team in the league," he said. "So even though we have a great interior game, when we try to kick it back out, they get out there so quickly. They take away the three's."
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