By Connor Giblin
POUGHKEEPSIE – Senior captain Rebekah Hand dropped 18 points, and redshirt senior captain Alana Gilmer added a double-double, but Princeton pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 62-50 decision over Marist on Saturday evening at McCann Arena.
The Red Foxes sustain their second-consecutive loss to move to 5-2. The Tigers capture their third-straight victory to improve to 7-1 this season.
Both teams found scoring touches as Hand scored 10 points in the first quarter, giving Marist a 16-15 advantage after 10 minutes. However, Princeton took a 28-26 lead into halftime after Carlie Littlefield and Julia Cunningham combined for 11 of the team’s 13 points in the second stanza.
In the third quarter, both teams adjusted defensively, leading to just a 5-25 shooting effort between both teams. The Tigers came out with a 15-2 to begin the fourth, highlighted by seven points from Littlefield, to gain their largest lead of the game at 52-37. Gilmer trimmed the deficit to 55-43 with 2:33 to play, but Princeton kept Marist out of reach the rest of the way.
Gilmer finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to record her fourth-career double-double.
Redshirt senior captain Grace Vander Weide added 11 points on 5-6 shooting.
Littlefield paced Princeton with 19 points, while Cunningham earned 14 points.
After taking their finals, Marist welcomes Green Bay to the Queen City on Sunday, December 15 at Noon.