POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The
Canisius women's basketball team lost 54-40 at Marist College in the McCann Arena on
Friday night. With the loss, the Golden Griffins drop to 8-12 overall and 5-4
in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Senior
Ashley Wilkes led the Griffs with 10
points, to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Junior Jamie Ruttle had eight points and seven
rebounds while senior Ashley Durham
and freshman Tiahana Mills also added
eight points apiece.
"We
have been putting ourselves in a big hole and it is so hard to dig out, especially
against a team that tempos the game like Marist," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We got back into the game
with defensive intensity and getting the ball inside, but we need that from an
entire 40 minutes. We battled back but it takes so much energy and everything
has to go perfect to complete a comeback of that nature.'
After
Canisius scored the first basket of the game, Marist scored on five of its next
six possessions to go up 11-5 after a jumper from Elizabeth Beynnon. The Griffs
trimmed into the lead by holding the Red Foxes without a basket for more than
five and a half minutes. A 3-pointer from the wing from sophomore Kayla Hoohuli got the Griffs within one
at 11-10. The Red Foxes held Canisius to three points and forced the Griffs
into six turnovers during the remaining 11 and a half minutes. A 3-pointer from
Leanne Ockenden in the final minute put Marist ahead 26-13 at the break.
Marist
(14-6, 9-0 MAAC) extended its lead to 37-15, scoring 11 of the first 13 points
in the second half. Canisius chipped away at the deficit, spurred by a couple of
hustle plays from Wilkes. The senior
scored back-to-back baskets, jumping a passing lane for an uncontested layup and also
beating the defense down the court for a fast-break layup. The Griffs held
Marist scoreless for more than seven minutes, with a 3-pointer from Ruttle and
a free throw from sophomore Brooke Angelos
trimming the Marist lead to 37-27.
Marist
ended the scoreless streak when Sydney Coffey split two free throws and then a
layup from Durham made it 38-29. After Casey Dulin and Ruttle traded jumpers,
the Griffs got a stop but couldn't convert on the offensive end and Ockenden drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to put Marist up 43-31. Mills
finished a layup and then made a 3-pointer from in front of the Canisius bench
to get it to a seven-point game. That would be as close as the Griffs could get
as Marist made 9-of-10 free throws after
the Mills' 3-pointer to put the game away.
Dulin
led all players with 12 points while Beynnon had 11 points. Marist shot 39.1
percent from the floor and held the Griffs to 26.3 percent while forcing 17 Canisius
turnovers.
Canisius
wraps up the weekend at Manhattan College in the Draddy Gymnasium on Sunday
afternoon. Tipoff in Riverdale, N.Y. is set for noon.
Notes: Marist
defeats Canisius for the 10th consecutive meeting... Durham saw her
nine-game streak of games with 11 points or more come to an end... Ruttle
returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the last three
games... Wilkes is now shooting 51.7 percent from the floor in the last four
games... Canisius held a 42-29 advantage on the glass... The Griffs outscored the
Red Foxes 22-12 in the paint, outscoring its opponent in the points in the
paint category in back-to-back games for the first time this season... Canisius had 11 turnovers in the first half and forced Marist into nine second-half turnovers.
