Late Defense Leads Women's Basketball to Ninth Straight Win

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y ? Giving up five points and one field goal in the final nine minutes of the game, the Canisius College women's basketball team pulled away with a 68-51 win at Iona in the Hynes Athletic Center on Sunday. The Golden Griffins improve to 12-4 overall and 4-1 MAAC, extending their winning streak to nine games ? the longest since the 1989-90 season.

Senior Marie Warner led the team with 15 points to go along with five rebounds while senior Amanda Cavo had 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior Brittan? Russell had 12 points, four assists and four steals. Junior Ellie Radke had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

“We gave up a lot of baskets off offensive rebounds in the first half, so we wanted to control that in the second half,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “We continue to find another way to win when our 3-pointers aren't falling by attacking the glass and digging in on defense.”

The offenses started slowly with Canisius taking a 9-7 lead on a 3-pointer from Brianna Lucas with 11:37 left in the first half. The Gaels went on a 9-2 run to take a 16-11 lead on a jumper from Suzi Fregosi with 9:40 left in the half. The Griffs responded with six straight points to take a 17-16 lead.

Iona held a 24-23 lead after two free throws from Anda Ivkovic before Canisius went on an 8-2 run to close the half. Cavo had four points in the stretch and the Griffs also got baskets from Warner and Stephanie MacDonald.

Canisius jumped out to a 10-point lead on two occasions early in the second half, building a 40-30 lead on a layup from Cavo. Iona trimmed the Canisius lead to two points on two separate occasions, making the score 48-46 on a basket from Thazina Cook at 9:04.

Canisius scored 20 of the final 25 points to close out the victory, forcing nine Iona turnovers and holding the Gaels to one basket in the final nine minutes. During the run, Canisius put the game away with back-to-back steals from Russell and MacDonald that pushed the lead to 61-46 on another layup from Russell

Ivkovic led Iona (9-7, 2-3 MAAC) with 21 points while Cook had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Canisius returns to the Koessler Athletic Center for two home games next weekend. The Golden Griffins host Fairfield on Friday, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 437 games on a 3-pointer by Lucas in the first half... The Canisius win ended a five-game winning streak in the series for Iona... Canisius also ended a two-game losing streak in the Hynes Athletic Center... Canisius now leads all-time series 22-19... Canisius outscored Iona 34-16 in the paint, 26-11 off turnovers and 20-0 in bench points... Canisius won the rebounding battle for the fourth consecutive game, owning a 20-12 advantage in the second half... Canisius had 15 or fewer turnovers for the eighth consecutive game... The nine-game winning streak is the longest since Canisius had a 10-game winning streak during the 1989-90 season... Canisius has won six straight road games for the first time since 1995... Canisius has made a combined six 3-pointers in the last two games.

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Players Mentioned

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

#13 Brianna Lucas: G; 5' 8"; Junior

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

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

#24 Marie Warner: F; 5' 11"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

#13 Brianna Lucas
: 5' 8"; Junior
: G

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

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

#24 Marie Warner
: 5' 11"; Senior
: F