MAAC Tournament
Marist women advance to final
Phil Terrigno
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Sports
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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."
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