Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. ? The Cansius College women's basketball team lost 54-44 to No. 24/20 Marist College in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Citizens Bank MAAC Tournament at the Times Union Center on Friday afternoon.
Senior Laura Buetow tied for a game-high with 13 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Sophomore Brittan? Russell had nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes. Russell finished the season with 1145 minutes played, setting a program record.
“I'm proud of the way we competed today. That was a postseason college basketball game,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “Defensively, we did what we wanted to do. We just couldn't make enough shots that would have put some pressure on Marist.”
Canisius (13-18) stayed with Marist (29-2) throughout the entire contest, taking the lead on a jumper by Buetow at the 17:32 mark. The Red Foxes took their first lead on a layup by Lynzee Johnson at the 9:08 mark to make it 16-14. Canisius responded by scoring five straight points ? getting a jumper from Buetow and 3-pointer from Micayla Drysdale to make the score 19-16.
Marist then scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 24-21 lead on a jumper by Brittany Engle with 1:31 left in the half. Russell scored the final five points of the half to make it 26-24 Canisius at the break.
Canisius continued to lead early in the second half, going up 30-28 when Buetow split two free throws at the 16:19 mark. Marist then took the lead for good by scoring 10 straight points, getting five points from Rachele Fitz, a 3-pointer by Nikki Flores and a jumper by Johnson to make it 36-30.
No team scored during the next three minutes, with Canisius missing four shots during that stretch, including three 3-pointers. Marist ended the drought with a jumper by Johnson.
Canisius would cut the lead to five points on two separate occasions, making it 43-38 on a putback by Buetow with 6:14 left. The Griffs could never get any closer, missing two free throws and three 3-pointers during the next two minutes when Marist didn't extend its lead.
The Red Foxes pushed the lead to eight on a free throw by Johnson and jumper by Julianne Viani and made 12 free throws in the final two minutes to put the game away.
In the game, Canisius shot 5-of-26 from behind the arc and was 1-of-15 on 3-pointers in the second half. The Griffs held Marist to 54 points, which is the second-lowest total by the Red Foxes this season and fewest against a conference opponent since scoring 49 against Loyola Feb. 12, 2005.
“We did a good job of getting the ball into Laura today and she had a great game,” Zeh said. “Unfortunately, we weren't able to make the 3-pointers that we usually make.”
Flores led Marist with 13 points while Fitz had 10 points. The Red Foxes shot 39.6 percent for the game and was 3-of-20 on 3-pointers.
Game Notes: The Griffs extended their NCAA Division I record for consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 421 games on a make by Ellie Radke midway through the first half... Canisius is now 2-5 against the top seed in the MAAC Tournament... The Griffs played a ranked team for the third time this season, fifth time under Zeh and seventh time in program history... Cavo has made a 3-pointer in a career-long 22 consecutive games... Canisius and Marist have now split their four MAAC Tournament contests... The Red Foxes shot 59.1 percent from the free-throw line in the game after coming into the game shooting 80.4 from the line during the regular season.
