Women's Basketball 3/8/2009 5:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Women's Basketball Falls to Marist in MAAC Championship

ALBANY, N.Y. ? Marist used 22 points apiece from Julianne Viani and Erica Allenspach, who combined to make eight of the Red Foxes' 10 3-pointers, to defeat the Canisius College women's basketball team 78-63 in the title game of the 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Championship in the Times Union Center on Sunday.

The Golden Griffins drop to 24-8 and will await their selection in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, with the 48-team field and bracket being announced late in the evening on Monday, March 16. Canisius earned the MAAC's automatic bid as the top team in the MAAC not to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Two Golden Griffins recorded a double-double in the game, as senior Marie Warner had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Brittan? Russell had 14 points, 12 rebounds four assists and four steals and became the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 points in her career. Junior Ellie Radke had 11 points and five rebounds.

Radke and Warner were named to the all-Tournament Team.

“When Marist makes a lot of outside shots, they become an even more difficult team to beat and that's what they did today,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “I'm proud of the way we battled to get to this point and that's why it hurts so much for our team. We had a great season that gets to continue in the WNIT because of all our hard work and dedication.”

Marist took advantage of three Canisius turnovers in the opening four minutes to go up 9-2 on a jumper by Rachele Fitz. The Griffs responded with an 8-2 run, capped by a jumper from Brianna Lucas that made the score 11-10. Marist pushed its lead to as many as 15 points in the first half, when Allenspach and Viani combining for four 3-pointers in a span of just over four minutes.

Canisius closed the gap to eight points at the half on a 3-pointer from Lucas in the right corner, making the score 32-24.

The Griffs cut the Marist lead to six points on two separate occasions with a layup from Radke making it 46-40 at 13:31. Canisius got two consecutive defensive stops, but wasn't able to cut into the lead as Allenspach made a 3-pointer at 12:01 that made the score 49-40.

Radke responded with a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to six points, but a 3-pointer by Viani started a 17-6 Marist run that put the game away.

Along with the 22 points from Allenspach and Viani, Fitz had 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as the trio combined for 62 of Marist's 78 points.

Game Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 453 games on a 3-pointer by Russell in the first half... Canisius and Marist met in the championship game for the third time in six seasons (2004 and 2005)... Russell had her first double-double of the season and matched her career high with 12 rebounds... Russell reached 1,000 points on a 3-pointer with 5:31 left in the first half... Russell became the first player in program history to reach 1,000 points in a MAAC Championship game... Russell became the seventh player in program history to reach 1,000 points by the end of her junior season... Canisius committed nine of its 11 turnovers in the first half... Canisius allowed an opponent to score more than 60 points in regulation for the first time since Jan. 4... Canisius lost for the first time this season when scoring 60 or more points.

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Players Mentioned

#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

#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