Allenspach, Viani Lead Red Foxes Past Golden Griffins for 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Championship
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Erica Allenspach scored a career-high 22 points and tournament MVP Julianne Viani also had 22 to help Marist beat Canisius, 78-63, on Sunday and win the 2009 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championship.
This will be the Red Foxes' fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament. They advanced to the round of 16 in 2007 before falling to Tennessee, and lost in the second round last season to LSU.
Marist (29-3) has advanced to the championship game of the MAAC tournament in each of the past six seasons. The top-seeded Red Foxes started their run in 2004 beating the Golden Griffins. The two teams also met for the 2005 title and Canisius came away with a one-point win. Those were the Golden Griffins' only previous appearances in the title game.
Marie Warner had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Canisius (24-8). Brittane Russell added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Rachele Fitz, who was honored as the conference's player of the year for the second straight season, added 18 points and 14 rebounds for Marist. She had 29 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in a 76-69 victory over Iona in the semifinals.
Second-seeded Canisius advanced to the championship game by beating Fairfield 62-55 on Saturday. The Golden Griffins set a tournament record with 12 3-pointers in their quarterfinal victory over Niagara.
Canisius split its two regular season meetings with Marist, losing at home by 18 in December before stunning the Red Foxes 68-60 in early February.
Marist made 10 3-pointers, including four each by Viani and Allenspach.
Leading 49-43 midway through the second half, Marist went on a 17-6 run to put the game away. Viani started the spurt with a 3-pointer, and her four-point play made it 61-47 with 9:33 left.
Canisius got no closer than 12 the rest of the game.
Marist, which has won its last 73 games when scoring over 70 points, built a 32-24 halftime advantage behind a 17-3 burst midway through the first half. The Red Foxes held the Golden Griffins without a field goal during the spurt and Viani had seven points, including a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock running down that made it 28-13.
Russell finally ended the drought for Canisius hitting her own 3-pointer with 5:28 left in the half. That shot put the junior over 1,000 points in her career, making her the 19th player in school history to reach that milestone.
The 3-pointer also started a 11-4 run by Canisius to close the half.
Marist played without Lynzee Johnson, who had 16 points in the semifinal win over Iona and 11 in the quarterfinal victory over Loyola, Md. She was sidelined by the flu, which has been running through the Red Foxes.