ALBANY, N.Y. ? Getting 18 points from senior Amanda Cavo and another impressive defensive effort, the Canisius College women's basketball team advances to the 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Championship Game with a 62-55 victory over Fairfield at the Times Union Center on Saturday.
The Golden Griffins (24-7) will play No. 1 Marist in the championship game, with tipoff scheduled for 12 p.m. on Sunday. Canisius advances to the title game for the third time in program history (2004 and 2005) and for the second time under fifth-year coach Terry Zeh. If Canisius defeats Marist, the Griffs qualify for the NCAA Tournament. If Canisius loses to Marist, Canisius will represent the MAAC in the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
Cavo was 5-for-10 from behind the arc, tying a program record for most 3-pointers in a MAAC Championship game. The senior also set the program record for career 3-point field goals, breaking the record of 260 by Heather Fiore as Cavo now has 265 in her career. Junior Ellie Radke had 14 points and six rebounds while senior Marie Warner had 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Golden Griffins held Fairfield to 55 points, the 16th straight game a Canisius opponent has been held to 60 points or fewer in regulation. Canisius limited Fairfield to 37.3 percent from the field, including 3-for-17 from behind the arc.
"I think this time of the year, people step up, and today it was Ellie Radke's turn. Amanda Cavo continued to show her courage and made some big-time shots," Zeh said. "This is a journey our team started a long time ago, and we get the chance to play in a MAAC Championship, which is what everyone dreams about."
The teams stayed close early and Canisius build a five-point lead by scoring seven consecutive points, getting a layup from Brittan? Russell and five points from Cavo to make it 16-11. The Stags responded with an 11-2 run to go up 22-18 on a 3-pointer from Geehan.
Canisius responded by scoring 10 of the last 14 points of the half, capped by a 3-pointer and offensive putback from Radke that made the score 28-26.
Fairfield tied the game out of the half on a jumper from Megan Caskin, but Canisius, who never trailed in the second half, scored 10 straight points to go up 38-28 on a jumper from Warner.
The Stags got as close as one point with 8:11 remaining, making the score 44-43 on a layup from Baendu Lowenthal. Canisius made back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 50-43.
Fairfield cut the lead to 55-51 at 2:14 on a jumper by Lowenthal, but Warner answered with a turnaround jumper at 1:07 to make it 57-51.
Canisius made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 38 seconds to put the game away.
Lowenthal led Fairfield (18-13) with 20 points while Stephanie Geehan had nine points, 13 rebounds and five blocks.
Game Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 452 games on a 3-pointer by Cavo in the first half... Cavo tied the Canisius single-game MAAC Tournament record of 3-pointers in a game with five, matching Fiore from Loyola Feb. 28, 1997... Two of the three title game appearances by Canisius have come in Albany (2004)... Canisius and Fairfield met in the postseason for the fifth time, with Canisius winning four of the five matchups... Micayla Drysdale had five assists and two turnovers, giving her an assist-turnover ratio of 2.71 (19 assists, seven turnovers) in four MAAC Championship games... Cavo scored in double figures for the fifth time in seven career MAAC Championship games... Canisius shot 50 percent in the second half, the first time Canisius has shot 50 percent or better in a half since the second half at Manhattan Jan. 9.
