Women’s Basketball Wins Championship

By Mike Ferraro

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – The Marist women’s basketball team won its 11th Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in program history on Saturday. The top-seeded Red Foxes led wire-to-wire in their 69-30 triumph over third-seeded Saint Peter’s.

Caitlin Weimar blocked a shot on the game’s opening possession, and converted a jumper on the Red Foxes’ first offensive possession.

Marist jumped out to a 12-0 lead, as the Peacocks were held scoreless for the first five minutes.

Marist held Saint Peter’s to 1-for-10 shooting from the field in the first quarter, and the Red Foxes led 20-5 after 10 minutes.

Saint Peter’s scored the first 10 points of the second quarter before the run was broken by a layup from Weimar.

Marist closed the first half an 8-0 run, which included four points from Willow Duffell. The Red Foxes took a 32-19 lead to the locker room.

A 14-0 run in the third quarter, which featured five points from Sarah Barcello and four from Duffell, boosted Marist’s lead to 25.

Marist held Saint Peter’s to 1-for-8 shooting from the field in the third quarter. The Red Foxes led 51-24 after three quarters.

Marist went on a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter, and scored the game’s final seven points.

“This group got everything out of itself,” Giorgis said to the ESPN crew of Tiffany Greene and Steffi Sorensen in a postgame interview. “They sacrificed a lot to get to where they are now, and I’m proud of them as a group.”

In the postgame press conference, Giorgis praised Trinasia Kennedy for her defensive work throughout the entire championship.

“This is just crazy, I can’t even explain how happy and excited I am for our team,” Weimar said in her ESPN postgame interview. “It makes it all worth it.”

“I 100% knew it was possible,” Duffell said in the postgame press conference. “This year it ends on the perfect note, and I couldn’t be happier.”

One of the biggest reasons I came here is because it gave me the best opportunity to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Best said in the postgame press conference. “It’s a dream come true.”

“We got beat by a better team today,” Saint Peter’s head coach Marc Mitchell said.

“Congratulations to Coach Brian and the Marist Red Foxes. The young ladies are really good players, and good luck to them in the NCAA Tournament.”

The first round of the NCAA Tournament will take place on Sunday, March 21 and Monday, March 22.