Women's Basketball 12/7/2008 5:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Marist Pulls Away from Women's Basketball

A Canisius field-goal drought of 11 minutes allowed Marist to gain control of the game en route to defeating the Canisius College women's basketball team 70-52 at the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.

Senior Marie Warner led the Golden Griffins with 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior Amanda Cavo, junior Ellie Radke and sophomore Micayla Drysdale each had eight points for Canisius as Drysdale led the team with five assists.

“Our offense got tentative in the second half. Marist didn't really change its defense, but we got stagnant and were watching too much,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “We battled hard in the first half to get the game tied, and learned to play with a team the caliber of Marist, you have to give a 40-minute effort.”

Canisius (3-4, 1-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) came out hot ? making three 3-pointers in the opening three minutes to go up 11-2 after a layup by Stephanie MacDonald just over four minutes into the game. The Red Foxes responded with a 13-1 run and took a 14-12 lead on a 3-pointer from Lynzee Johnson at 12:35

The teams stayed close for the rest of the half and Canisius went up 26-22 after two free throws from JJ Williams at 5:43. Marist scored eight consecutive points to take a 30-26 lead on two free throws from Maria Laterza at 2:30. Canisius would score the final four points of the half ? a layup from MacDonald and a jumper from Cavo to tie the game at 30-30 at halftime.

Marist jumped out to a 41-35 second-half lead ? getting two 3-pointers from Julianne Viani and five points from Rachele Fitz. Canisius would battle back with an 11-4 run, capped by a layup from Radke and 3-pointer from the top of the key from Cavo that made it 46-45.

Marist (7-1, 2-0 MAAC) would hold Canisius to two points ? two free throws from MacDonald ? for the next 11 minutes and pulled away by scoring 16 unanswered points after McDonald's free throws.

Fitz led all players with 24 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes. Viani added 16 points and shot 4-for-9 from behind the arc.

Canisius resumes the non-conference portion of its schedule when the Golden Griffins host Saint Louis on Dec. 14. Game time from the Koessler Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m.

Match Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 428 games on a 3-pointer by Warner in the first minute of the game... Cavo's two made 3-point field goals moved her into second place in the Canisius record books as the senior now has 210 in her career, passing Cheri Wittlieb's total of 209... Cavo also passed Wittlieb on the all-time scoring list, moving into 17th place with 1,057 career points, one more than Wittlieb... Junior Brittan? Russell had three steals, giving her multiple steals in each of the seven games this season and in 12 of the last 13... Warner led Canisius in scoring for the sixth time in seven games and has reached double figures in all six of those games... Warner played a career-high 38 minutes, besting her previous career high of 35 from the Nov. 25 game at Illinois-Chicago... Marist defeated Canisius for the eighth consecutive time... Canisius has split its opening two MAAC home games for the seventh time in eight seasons.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Amanda Cavo: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#23 Micayla Drysdale: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#35 Ellie Radke: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#1 Brittan? Russell: G; 5' 5"; Junior

#31 JJ Williams: C; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#12 Amanda Cavo
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#23 Micayla Drysdale
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#35 Ellie Radke
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#1 Brittan? Russell
: 5' 5"; Junior
: G

#31 JJ Williams
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: C