Dec. 1, 2008

Lafayette-Marist Game Notes

THE MATCHUP: The Red Foxes come back to the McCann Center after a 3-1 road trip to take on the Lafayette Leopards Monday night.

ON THE AIR: Geoff Brault will call all the action on GoRedFoxes.com starting at 7:15 p.m.

SERIES RECORD: This is the first ever meeting between the Red Foxes and Leopards.

LAST TIME OUT: Marist bounced back from its first loss of the season to beat Tulsa 73-53 at the Reynolds Center on Friday night. The Red Foxes used a 21-1 run to open the second half to pull away from the Golden Hurricane. Rachele Fitz had her first double-double of the season with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. Julianne Viani added 19 points and was 6-for-6 at the free throw line.

MARIST V. PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Red Foxes are 22-24 all-time against the Patriot League. After Monday's game with Lafayette, Marist will have played every team in the conference. The Red Foxes have won their last seven games against Patriot League opponents dating back to the 2001-02 season.

SHORT MEMORY: With the win over Tulsa on Friday, Marist has won 11 of its last 13 games following a loss. In those 11 wins, the Red Foxes are averaging 74.2 points per game and have won by an average of 20 points a game.

WELCOME HOME: The Red Foxes return to the McCann Center tonight after playing four consecutive games on the road. Marist went 3-1 on the trip, with the lone loss coming to #4 Oklahoma. The Red Foxes averaged 74.8 points per game while giving up only 66 points per game. Marist held a turnover margin of +3.5 a game and had an assist-turnover ratio of 1.3. During the four-game stretch, three career milestones were reached. Head Coach Brian Giorgis became Marist's all-time wins leader with 141 in the 93-65 win at Northeastern on Nov. 21. In that same game, Rachele Fitz scored a career-high 36 points, one point shy of tying Marist's single-game record. Julianne Viani scored her 1,000th career point in Marist's 76-63 win at Harvard on Nov. 23. Viani is the 16th Red Fox to score over 1,000 career points.

TWELFTH MONTH: Marist is 26-14 in the month of December under Brian Giorgis. Last season, the Red Foxes were 5-1 in the twelfth month on the calender.

DELIGHTING IN DOUBLE-FIGURES: Rachele Fitz has scored in double-figures in 39 straight games. In 20 of those games, Fitz has scored over 20 points. During this stretch she is averaging 19.4 points per game while shooting 56.9% from the field and 86.4% from the free-throw line. In her career, Fitz has scored 20 points or more 26 times.

"CENTER" OF ATTENTION: Sophomore center Maria Laterza has been a force on defense for the Red Foxes this season. Laterza had a career-high six rebounds for the third straight game Friday night and also had a career-high four blocked shots. She is averaging 5.2 boards per game.

PROTECT THE HOUSE: The Red Foxes are 56-7 over the last five-plus seasons at the McCann Center. Marist has won 34 of its last 35 games at home dating back to Dec. 1, 2005.

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Freshmen Brandy Gang and Kristine Best had big games off the bench against Tulsa Friday night. Gang set new career-highs in points, rebounds, and blocks. She had nine points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots in 19 minutes. Best scored a career-high seven points on 3-of-6 shots from the field and had three assists.

DEFEND THE ARC: Marist is holding opponents to 28.7% from beyond the three-point arc this season. The Red Foxes held Northeastern to 20.7% from the three-point line on Nov. 21. They also held Oklahoma to 27.8% on Nov. 26.

SCOUTING LAFAYETTE: Picked sixth in the Patriot League in the Preseason, the Leopards come into Monday's game with a 1-4 record. Lafayette snapped a four-game losing streak to open the season with a 57-51 win over Texas Pan-American on Saturday. Cristin Zavocki led the Leopards with 15 points, with Amanda Smith and LaKeisha White adding nine points each. Lafayette held Texas Pan-American to 35.4% shooting from the field. White leads the Leopards with 9.4 points per game. Emily Garner averages 7.8 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game. Lafayette is only averaging 50 points per game and is shooting 56% at the free throw line.