Jan. 18, 2010
Final Stats
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Siena battled league-leading Marist throughout, but just couldn't get over the hump and lost 71-58 Monday afternoon in Loudonville. Marist led from start to finish, but the Saints never let the game get away and cut the deficit to three points in the second half. Every time the Saints closed the gap, Marist responded with a run. Cristina Centeno scored a career-high 24 points.
Junior guard Erica Allenspach led Marist to its 10th straight win with a career-high 26 points.
Marist (14-4, 6-0) started the game on an 8-0 run until Merrick Volpe got Siena (5-10, 3-3) on the scoreboard with two free throws four minutes in. Centeno energized the Saints and made three 3-pointers in the first half. Each of the last two cut the deficit to six points with less than three minutes in the first half. Siena had the ball with one minute left and a chance to make it a four-point game, but turnovers on consecutive possessions led to two free throws by Allenspach and a layup by Corielle Yarde. Volpe hit a jumper with four seconds remaining to make the halftime score 39-31.
Allenspach picked up where she left off and made a 3-pointer to start the second half. Siena scored five straight points to make it a three-point game, but Marist answered with a 9-2 run with Allenspach and Kate Oliver scoring all nine points. Oliver, a freshman forward, finished with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
Allenspach and Oliver combined for 28 of the team's 32 points in the second half. The rest of the team shot 1-of-13 from the field.
The Saints whittled Marist's lead down to 54-48 with 9:52 remaining on a jumper from Charlieann Chacon. She scored a season-high seven points off the bench. But Siena went over three minutes without a point and made just one field goal the rest of the game.
Marist had 20 assists and 10 turnovers while Siena had nine assists and 21 turnovers. The Red Foxes converted those miscues into 33 points.
Marist has won 11 consecutive games against Siena.
Serena Moore scored 17 points and added eight rebounds.
The Saints return to action on Friday when they host Loyola at 7 p.m. It is Siena's annual Pink Zone game with proceeds going toward Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer (CRAAB!).
