Canisius outscored Marist, 26-14, in the third quarter to take control of the contest and record its fourth straight victory with a 67-62 triumph in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s basketball action Monday at McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Sophomore Sisi Eleko paced the Golden Griffins (6-3, 2-0 MAAC) offense with her league-leading sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Graduate student Grace Heeps and junior Athina Lexa joined Eleko in double figures, tallying 14 points apiece. Heeps and fellow graduate student Bri Rozzi would also help on the glass, grabbing six boards each. Senior Mackenzie Amalia dished out a game-high eight assists, tying her career-high which she set earlier this year against Buffalo.
Kiara Fisher paced the Red Foxes (2-9, 0-2 MAAC) with 21 points and six assists while Zaria Shazer and Julia Corsentino added in 15 and 12, respectively. On the glass, Catie Cunningham grabbed a team-best nine boards.
Caught in a back-and-forth contest to start, Canisius’ offense would heat up in the final 3:02 of the first quarter, closing the stanza on a 7-3 stretch, capped by a pull-up jumper from Heeps to put the Griffs ahead, 18-16.
The Marist defense would take over in the second quarter, limiting Canisius to just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting (.200) from the field while putting up 10 points of their own to enter the locker room ahead by one, 26-25.
After a Shazer bucket began the third frame, the Griffs would use an Eleko basket to spark a 12-2 run that allowed them to reclaim the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter, 37-31, with 6:30 left in the frame.
Out of the whistle, the Red Foxes would respond, scoring seven of the next 10 points across a 2:17 span to trim the Canisius lead to just two, 40-38, with 4:13 to play.
The Griffs responded to the Marist salvo, ending the quarter on an 11-3 spurt highlighted by a 3-of-4 effort from deep to enter the fourth quarter ahead by 10, 51-40.
