Marist Wins the 2014 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship
MAAC Sports
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – No. 2 Marist College defeated No. 4 Quinnipiac University 70-66 in the championship game of the 2014 MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. on ESPNU.
Marist got out to an early 16-10 lead over the Bobcats for what would turn out to be its largest lead of the game, when Ellen Cannon drained a three point basket at the 13:53 mark of the first half to start a Quinnipiac run. The Bobcats run quickly grew. The run started at 12-0, then 19-2, then 25-4, and eventually ended the half as a 25-8 run to give Quinnipiac the halftime lead of 35-24 over Marist. Quinnipiac senior forward Brittany McQuain led all scorers at the break with 11 points.
Marist opened up the second half with Casey Dulin connecting on a layup to jump start an 8-4 run and cut the Quinnipiac lead to seven points. The rest of the half went back and forth and the Bobcats maintained the lead until the 5:45 mark when Tori Jarosz blocked McQuain’s layup attempt and then scored on a layup of her own on the offensive end to give Marist the 59-58 lead. It was the first time that the Red Foxes had the lead since the 11 minute mark in the first half. Quinnipiac would tie the contest up two more times, but never retake the lead.
With under a minute remaining in the contest, Marist held a slim 67-66 one-point lead over Quinnipiac, with the Bobcats having the possession and an opportunity to take the lead. Coming out of a 30 second timeout, the Red Foxes forced the Bobcats into a shot clock violation and turnover with 14.7 seconds remaining. Two made free throws by Sydney Coffey would put Marist ahead 69-66 and give Quinnipiac one last chance to tie. Gillian Abshire attempted to hit the potential game tying three but was unsuccessful. One more made free throw from Leanne Ockenden would close out the game and give Marist College its 9th consecutive MAAC title and 10th in the last 11 years.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Sydney Coffey scored a game high 23 points in the win for the Red Foxes. All-Championship Team selection Brittany McQuain scored a team high 20 points for the Bobcats. Joining McQuain on the All-Tournament Team are; Damika Martinez of Iona, Samantha Guastella of Quinnipiac, and Marist’s Emma O’Connor and Casey Dulin.