Women's Basketball Falls to No. 1 Seed Marist

Two 3-pointers apiece from Marist sophomores Brandy Gang and Kristine Best broke open the game while the Canisius College women's basketball team scored 13 points during the final 16 minutes as the Golden Griffins saw their 2009-10 season come to an end in a 57-38 loss to No. 1 seed Marist in the Times Union Center on Friday. The Golden Griffins finish the season with a 12-19 record.

Senior Brittané Russell led Canisius with 17 points, five assists and two steals. Senior Tasia Lee had seven points and a career-high 11 rebound while freshman Allison Braun grabbed a career-high seven rebounds. The Griffs shot 24.6 percent from the floor on the day and 5-for-25 on 3-pointers. Canisius won the rebounding battle 42-37, which included 16 offensive rebounds.

“At this time of year, the top teams get contributions not only from their starts but also role players. Marist has a lot of good players and that showed today,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “I'm proud of the way our team fought today.”

Russell scored the first points of the game – a 3-pointer 45 seconds into the contest. That 3-pointer allowed Russell to tie the program record for consecutive games with a 3-pointer at 28 games. The teams stayed close for a majority of the first half, with Russell keeping her team in the game by scoring 10 of the first 13 Canisius points. The Red Foxes pushed it to a 17-12 lead on a layup from Elise Caron. Canisius responded with a 6-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Lee to make it 19-18 with just over four minutes remaining. Marist pushed its lead to 24-18 after Erica Allenspach split two free throws, but a 3-pointer from the corner by Russell made it 24-21 at the half.

After Marist (24-7) scored the first basket of the second half on a layup by Best, the Griffs responded with four points – a layup from Russell and turnaround jumper by Lee off an offensive rebound to make it 26-25 with just under 17 minutes left. That would be as close as the Griffs could get as Marist broke open the game with 10 straight points – including the two 3-pointers from Best. Canisius cut the lead to 38-31 after jumpers from Whitney Ellenor and Russell. Gang then pushed the Marist lead to 44-31 with two 3-pointers in just over a minute. The Griffs cut the lead to eight points on two more occasions, but a jumper from Russell with 8:43 left that made it 46-38 was the last Canisius points of the game.

Corielle Yarde led Marist with 16 points and nine rebounds, going 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. Rachele Fitz had 12 points and eight rebounds whiel Best had 10 points.

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 485 games on a 3-pointer by Russell in the first minute of the game… Russell's 28-game streak matched the program-record streak of Shauna Geronzin… Canisius and Marist met in the postseason for the fifth time in the last seven years… Canisius played the No. 1 seed in the tournament for the ninth time and are now 2-7… Off the 16 offensive rebounds, Canisius had 13 second-chance points… Marist turned 15 Canisius turnovers into 18 points off turnovers.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun: G; 5' 10"; Freshman

#12 Whitney Ellenor: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

#3 Tasia Lee: G; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: G

#12 Whitney Ellenor
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F

#3 Tasia Lee
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun

#12 Whitney Ellenor

#3 Tasia Lee

Players Mentioned

#15 Allison Braun

#12 Whitney Ellenor

#3 Tasia Lee