Marist Basketball

While junior Rachele Fitz and the Marist College women's basketball team continue to roll at 8-1, they're facing harsh realizations on the court—they aren't the same Sweet 16 team from two years ago, and they aren't the 32-3 team from last season.

It doesn't mean they can't be as good, they just have to find a different route to find the similar success.

If anyone can lead a team there, it's head coach Brian Giorgis.

Led by Fitz and senior Julianne Viani, the Red Foxes turned away Boston University last night in Poughkeepsie, 73-62.

It was a tight game throughout, with Fitz only scoring four points in the first half, heading to the bench with over six minutes left before the break.

Viani stepped up, as expected, but so did sophomore Erica Allenspach (2008 MAAC Rookie of the Year) and junior Lynzee Johnson (2008 MAAC Sixth Player of the Year).

Fitz took over in the second half, scoring 24 points (28 total), but the Foxes' play without her was the story for those who follow the team. The "clean-up crew" hasn't been able to do its job so far this season. The win over BU was a glimmer of hope.

This was the first step necessary for Marist, which only has two primary scorers—Fitz (24.0 ppg) and Viani (16.3 ppg).

A third, or even fourth option is needed for the Foxes, who often run into double- and triple-teams on Fitz, and quick and athletic guards who can run with Viani. Then there's the national stage, where teams match up all the way around.

Allenspach, who is usually used to distribute the ball around to Fitz and Viani, scored nine points, including a 3-pointer when Marist was struggling from the field.

Johnson scored 10. She is getting more confidence inside, with post moves you wouldn't expect to see from a 5'10" guard/forward.

With the good usually comes the bad. Marist was sloppy last night, and though there were special circumstances surrounding why they looked the way they did, it's still a cause for concern.

Sophomore defensive specialist Élise Caron didn't start because she has been battling illness all week. She got some minutes, but looked flat for the most part. She still had steady feet, taking one charge, but wasn't up to her usual defensive intensity.

In her place was freshman Kristine Best, who had four turnovers and no assists. It was her first career start, and she hasn't found her groove yet. This whole paragraph sounds cliché, but looking at her tendencies, you can tell she'll be great at running the point for Marist someday, yesterday just wasn't that day.

Brandy Gang, also a freshman, started inside for Marist, because Maria Laterza missed a few practices during the week for personal reasons. Gang is a legitimate threat under the hoop, and one of the main reasons Giorgis' freshman are a top-50 recruiting class.

Gang had three rebounds, two blocks, and an assist, with no turnovers. She wasn't used much on offense, but she's tough on the inside on both sides of the court. When Fitz graduates in 2010, Laterza and Gang will dominate the conference in the paint.

Until then, they'll watch and learn from the best. Fitz overcame her scoring troubles by forcing the issue. She dared the pesky BU defense to block her. She went to the charity stripe 14 times by the end of the game, earning herself 12 free points.

When the Red Foxes finally expanded their lead to double-digits in the waning minutes of the game, Fitz's play generated a "YOU CAN'T GUARD HER!" chant.

...Okay, it was me screaming that. Not from press row, though. I won't be covering the women until they're nationally ranked. Another problem.

The loss to Oklahoma wasn't impressive, as Marist was trailing by 20 almost the entire game. The Red Foxes dropped from No. 26 in the Associated Press poll to No. 33. Even with two wins the ensuing week, Marist continued to lose votes.

If they keep winning, they'll eventually get there. It's just going to take awhile, as it did last year. A December loss to Hartford dropped Marist to about the same spot, and it took two months without a loss to get the Red Foxes into the national rankings.

Two months from now? Oh, well that's right about the time the Red Foxes head to Hartford for a rematch of last year's mid-major slugfest. Hartford beat Duke this year, in case you don't know, so this is going to be a hell of a game.

Feb. 15, ESPN2, Marist @ Hartford.

I'll be the guy painted in red and white, screaming uncontrollably as Hartford fans beat me to a pulp.

Side note: Anybody see the Oklahoma-California women's game last night? Down 52-26, Oklahoma outscored Cal 60-23 in the second half! The Sooners won by 11! Insane. Courtney Paris, by the way, notched her 103rd straight double-double.

I'll understand when Maya Moore earns National Player of the Year over Paris, seeing as how UConn won the head-to-head 106-78 (Moore 27 and 12, Paris 14 and 14), but I won't necessarily agree.

The timeliness of this article is a little off, but yesterday I was sidetracked with college football and...well, there has to be a tactful way to put this...major conference college basketball.

Picked to finish last in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Marist has proved critics wrong, beating Iona Friday, 51-50—and now the Red Foxes are tied for first place.

Okay, that was a sensational lead. Aside from it being each team's first MAAC game, the fact of the matter is, the game was bad. Really bad. Don't let this breathtaking Associated Press recap fool you. Ah, shameless 150-word self-promotion.

As all bad journalists do, I wrote the lead of my story before the game ended. Then I had to rewrite it a second time. Then I had to rewrite it again!

It looked a little like this.

"Marist started the game on a 13-2 run and never looked back Friday, beating Iona..."

Oops, hang on.

"Iona overcame a double-digit deficit to beat Marist in each team's MAAC opener Friday..."

Oh crap, Dejuan just hit the game winner. Here we go.

"Dejuan Goodwin hit a game-winning jump shot..."

There it is.

You see, Marist jumped out to a 13-2 lead on eight points from Goodwin, and the McCann Center was bumping as if it were Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was actually nice to see the Jared Jordan leftover fans embrace this new-look squad as its own. I definitely expected a mutiny, but the kids love their college basketball.

Side note: Jared Jordan WAS in attendance. OMG!

Back to the game, Iona shot 27 percent from the field in the first half, and started the second half pretty miserable, too. They eventually caught Marist, taking a five-point lead with a minute to go.

Ryan Schneider hit a clutch three-pointer with 56 seconds left, just before fouling out. It brought Marist to within two points. Schneider is by far Marist's best clutch player, as he went 3-4 from the charity stripe in the final 12 seconds in the previous Saturday's win against New Hampshire.

It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but Marist let UNH whittle a 15-point lead down to two before it was all said and done. The clean up crew hasn't been doing its job for the Red Foxes this season. Come to think of it, there is no clean up crew.

Box scores are misleading at times, because Schneider went 6-14 from the field, including 5-11 from downtown. A lot of those shots shouldn't have been taken, but the ones he made were huge. He's like the opposite of A-Rod. He makes 'em when the team needs it, and misses when there's no drama.

So Schneider is fouled out, and he's the leader on the team. Nobody else has really found their way, and the team has NO chemistry without him, so clearly they're screwed.

Goodwin proved naysayers like me wrong, bringing the team together, culminating in a 16-foot leaner with one second left to give the Red Foxes the W.

It's tough to say whether Marist won this game, or whether Iona lost it. My final answer is Marist won it. Not with style though. I give the Red Foxes the nod only because they went 6-16 from the free-throw line. Even if they shot 60 percent, it wouldnt' have been so close in the end.

Free throws have been Marist's big problem so far, shooting around 60 percent on the year, a la Memphis 2007-2008. Those numbers aren't going to win Marist a national championship.

The Red Foxes are also ranked somewhere around 324th in Division I with eight assists per game. Not good.

Oh yeah, and there's my favorite stat: The Red Foxes have had 59 shots blocked in seven games. That's a lot.

Iona shot 0-10 from three-point range, likely saving Marist, and the Gaels' seven-footer, Jonathan Huffman, a transfer from Louisville, only played 20 minutes. Marist likes to run up and down the court, so that probably winded Huffman, who only had one personal foul.

Iona was picked to finish seventh in the MAAC, so it's not that huge of an upset, but Marist will take it. Any conference win they notch this season is an upset. We might end up seeing a few more of those than we expected if this team can get its act together.

Other notes from the game

Marist's David Devezin was hampered by a foot injury, the talk of the press room before the game started. He still ran the point for 33 minutes with four assists and only two turnovers.

Nobody on Iona played 30 minutes. Depth? Or lack of conditioning?

Iona shot 80 percent from the line, including 10-12 in the second half.

This was the Red Foxes' best assist/turnover ratio in a regulation game this season. That's not saying much, with 10 assists and 16 turnovers.

The Marist College men's basketball team kicked off its home campaign last night against St. Bonaventure, losing 77-54, and falling to 0-2 on the season.

First year head coach, Chuck Martin, previously a two-year assistant at Memphis, was very intense on the sideline, but the team couldn't get in a groove and didn't seem to be communicating well on the court.

St. Bonaventure (2-0) looked great. If they played in the MAAC, they'd definitely be a tournament team this season. Unfortunately for them, they're in the A-10, so when conference play starts, they'll be running into teams with equal size, speed, and strength.

Lawrence Williams (LB) had a thundering dunk just seconds into the game on an assist from David Devezin that got the McCann Center pumping. That didn't last long.

Ryan Schneider was the bright spot for the Red Foxes, scoring 16 points and pulling down eight boards. Through two games, he's averaging a double-double at 12 points and 10 rebounds per game.

As for the nuts and bolts, Devezin and fellow guard DeJuan Goodwin didn't seem to mesh, almost as if they were competing against each other on the court, rather than side-by-side.

I expect Chuck Martin to take care of that very quick.

One of the most promising aspects of the game for Marist was the play of freshman R.J. Hall. He showed true sportsmanship on the court last night. He was very polite to the referees when they were making terrible calls, and when he had the ball, he was running the offense as if he'd been doing it for four years.

His downside is his size. Standing 5'10", he was unable to penetrate effectively to open up his teammates on the wing.

Once the Red Foxes get a little chemistry in the locker room, they definitely have the speed, athleticism, and raw talent to pull off a few upsets and make some noise in-conference.

They do have some work to do, though. Marist committed 24 turnovers last night, only dishing out 10 assists. I'm not a math guy, but I'm pretty sure that's not even close to a 1-for-1 ratio.

The Bonnies' size, as I alluded to before, was too much for Marist. They blocked eight shots, and held Marist to 33 percent shooting, and 4-17 from long range. Four of the 3-pointers missed by Marist were from about 30 feet, none of which were smart shots.

Chris Matthews dropped 21 points for St. Bonaventure, but Andrew Nicholson stood out with 13 points, five blocked shots, and I swear he almost touched the roof on a couple of his dunks.

This game was each team's second game of the Garden State Challenge, a five-team, round-robin tournament without a winner. Rutgers, Robert Morris, and Delaware are the three other teams involved.

Rutgers/St. Bonaventure looks to be the best game featured in this tournament. Since that game will be played in Piscataway, I'm going to take Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights match up with the Bonnies in both size and speed. It should still be a great game.

This was a very telling weekend for the Marist Women's basketball team, and Poughkeepsie's finest not only flourished, but also eased many fears surrounding this year's team.

Following up last year's 32-3 mark is a very tough task, but improving upon it has actually come to be an expectation. Since head coach Brian Giorgis took over in 2002, the team's record has gotten better each year.

For those of you who still don't know this team, they shocked the nation in 2007, taking out nationally ranked Ohio State and Middle Tennessee State in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the first Sweet 16 for any Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team.

Nobody matches up with Candace Parker, so please forgive Marist for losing to the eventual National Champion.

The Red Foxes followed up that performance by going undefeated in the MAAC in 2008 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to LSU.

Marist lost its core players in point guard Nikki Flores and forwards Sarah Smrdel and Meg Dahlman. Though confident, there were many question marks heading into this season. They were answered last night.

After a riveting ring ceremony Saturday, featuring speakers from the past four MAAC championship teams, the Red Foxes opened up their season at home last night against Albany, winning 74-56.

Though Albany isn't the toughest of tests (see: Nov. 26 at Oklahoma), it was a great chance for Giorgis to get everyone on the floor to see what he's got this year.

The starting five is solid. That's the bottom line.

Rachele Fitz (defending MAAC Player of the Year, preseason second team All-America), only a junior, was victim to a triple-team most of the night and still poured in 23 points.

Senior Julianne Viani was quiet for about 10 minutes while Marist was feeling out its inside game. Late in the first half, and throughout the second half, she came to life, dropping three-pointer after three-pointer. She finished with a career-high 26 points and made 5-7 from long range (10-13 overall from the field).

Elise Caron could be the best defensive player this league has ever seen. She was a role player last year as a freshman, but now she's front and center as the starting point guard. Caron drew four charges last night without committing a blocking foul. She backs down to nobody. She'll make noise when put on a national stage.

Erica Allenspach, also a sophomore, is great at handling and distributing the ball, and she can hit a shot when she's needed. She runs after every loose ball and takes a beating when she drives into the lane to free up Viani or Fitz.

Maria Laterza had a breakout performance last night under the rim. A sophomore, she barely played last year, so nobody knew what to expect. She grabbed three offensive rebounds, blocked two shots, and scored eight points before Marist even had 20 total points.

Laterza, who stands 6'3", could be the most important role player to this team, because she's filling the shoes of 6'3" Dahlman and Smrdel, who were forces in the paint. Teams love to double- and triple-team 6'1" Fitz, so when they have to pay attention to the other big players, that frees up Fitz to take advantage of mismatches.

As for the bench, the freshmen looked promising, while other returning players looked to shake off some early-season rust.

Lynzee Johnson, last year's conference Sixth Player of the Year, had a quiet night. When she usually comes in, it's to knock down a three. She'll get open on the wing, and the rest is history.

Her shot was off last night, but I fully expect her to pick up exactly where she left off last season.

Senior Courtney Kolesar missed all of last year with a knee injury, so it's great to see her back on the court. When her shot is on, she doesn't miss. Albany was very fast and athletic last night, so they kept her at bay. Like Johnson, Kolesar will be great off the bench when Caron or Allenspach need a rest.

As for the freshmen, Brandy Gang looked great last night in her first college game. She'll be playing inside with Fitz and Laterza. Her intensity was up, and she had a great performance in minimal playing time, contributing two points, two blocks, and a rebound in 13 minutes.

Corielle Yarde has one of the sweetest releases on the team. She's quick, so if Allenspach or Caron are at a speed disadvantage, Yarde is a super-sub.

The team was without junior Brittany Engle due to illness, so that adds another element to the Red Foxes' depth once she gets back.

The clean-up crew wasn't effective when put in the game early in the second half last night, so Viani and Fitz had to come back in when the lead was cut from 20 to single digits.

Expect Giorgis to work out those kinks and for these women to be a brute force for each opponent.

Marist is on the road for four games—at Northeastern and Harvard, then at Oklahoma and Tulsa. Winning three of four is expected, and pulling off an upset of Courtney Paris and company would get the pundits stirring early this year.

The Red Foxes should be sneaking back into the national rankings within the next two weeks, barring any hiccups or an absolute blowout by Oklahoma.

Pick somewhere to start.

Five consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season titles, three straight NCAA tournament appearances, or perhaps 69 wins in its last 72 conference games.

Despite a list of accolades that just keeps growing, the Marist Women's basketball team remains humble. Still, the Red Foxes have the opportunity to become a mainstay among the elite—shades of what Gonzaga's men's team began to do in 1999.

The Red Foxes and the Bulldogs have similar track records. School enrollment is about 4,500, and neither school had much, if any, notoriety from any of its athletic programs before one hiring changed everything.

Marist has lost less and less since head coach Brian Giorgis took over in 2002 and has dropped seven games or fewer each of the last four years. Though it will be very difficult to match, let alone improve upon, last year's 32-3 mark, stranger things have happened.

Marist started turning heads in the 2007 NCAA tournament when it shocked Ohio State and Middle Tennessee State to advance to the Sweet 16. No team ranked as low as Marist (13) had ever advanced that far. Though a loss to eventual national champion Tennessee ended the dream, the Red Foxes proved they belong.

In its 2007-2008 campaign, Marist set a school record with 32 wins, going undefeated in the MAAC and only losing two games in the regular season. The Red Foxes won 21 consecutive games heading into the NCAA tournament, also earning a national ranking in the regular season for the first time in program history.

The Cinderella story was short-lived in 2008, but not before Marist notched another NCAA tournament victory on its belt, a first round win over DePaul. LSU, a Final Four team, knocked out the Red Foxes in the second round.

Now heading into the 2008-2009 season, expectations continue to grow. Giorgis brought in one of the nation's top 50 recruiting classes to fill the shoes of four departed seniors.

Among the losses are starting point guard Nikki Flores, center Meg Dahlman, a 1,000-point scorer, and forward Sarah Smrdel, the 2008 MAAC tournament most valuable player and one of the best bench players in the conference.

Junior Rachele Fitz, a preseason second-team All-American selection, is prepared to lead the team offensively, as she scored her 1,000th point in February and is on pace to shatter the school's scoring record. She was named the MAAC Player of the Year last year, and needless to say, she was also named MAAC Preseason Player of the Year this season.

Fitz has backup, too. Seniors Julianne Viani and Courtney Kolesar know what to do with the rock. Viani was top 25 in the nation in assist to turnover ratio last season and kept the team in the game in its NCAA tournament loss to LSU, dropping 21 points, 15 from beyond the arc.

Kolesar missed last season with a knee injury but led the team in three-point field goal percentage the previous year.

Still not convinced?

Sophomore Erica Allenspach was named MAAC Rookie of the Year, and classmate Elise Caron was the Canadian High School Player of the Year her senior year. Those two haven't even been integrated into the offense yet.

There is a gap to fill under the rim, where Dahlman and Smrdel both stood 6'3". Expected to inherit the role are 6'3" sophomores Sarah Huff and Maria Laterza, but neither saw significant playing time their freshman year, the only potential dent in the Red Foxes' armor.

Marist doesn't have the luxury of looking past any opponent, but sportswriters do. The Red Foxes' first real test comes the day before Thanksgiving when they visit the Paris sisters in Oklahoma.

Nobody outside of Poughkeepsie expects Marist to win that game, given the matchup problems inside the paint, but if the Sooners aren't prepared with a solid long-range defense, they could be in a world of trouble.

Three points are usually worth more than two, and Poughkeepsie's finest ranked 22nd in the nation in three-point field goal percentage last year. They aren't afraid to shoot it when that's the game plan.

Beyond that, the next test doesn't come until February, when the Red Foxes try to avenge last year's early-season loss to Hartford, a powerful mid-major in its own right. Marist will travel to Hartford this time, and the game is expected to be televised by ESPN.

The Red Foxes will be fielding a very experienced and competitive squad come NCAA tournament time. The reputation they have built over the past two years should earn them an at-large bid if they fail to win the conference tournament and have minimal hiccups on their résumé.

Though mid-majors have made noise in the past, none have done it consistently in the women's game like Marist is poised to do, a true threat both on the court and in the recruiting game, year-in and year-out. No disrespect meant to the Chattanoogas and the Old Dominions of the world.

Marist hasn't knocked off an upper-echelon team such as Connecticut or Tennessee yet, but there is something big happening in Poughkeepsie.

Getcha Cinderella slippers ready. Again.

After an 18-14 (11-7) finish and semifinal loss to Rider in the MAAC tournament of the 2007-2008 season, the Marist Red Foxes went through many changes in the offseason.

It all started with the graduation of four impact seniors in Ryan Stilphen, Ben Farmer, Wilfred “Spongy” Benjamin, and Shae McNamara.  Then four-year head coach Matt Brady left the team for more money down at James Madison, which led to the transferring of MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year Jay Gavin (to VCU) and fellow freshman Jeremiah Bowmann.

With most of Coach Brady’s incoming recruits opting to follow him to James Madison, this left the Red Foxes with a bare cupboard and scrambling to find a head coach. 

In comes the hiring of Coach Jose “Chuck” Martin.  In his coaching career, Martin made assistant coaching stops at Drexel, Manhattan, St. John’s, and most recently, the national champion runner-up Memphis.

Coach Martin didn’t waste any time hitting the recruiting trail.  He put together a coaching staff and used his NYC recruiting ties to bring in five solid recruits in the late spring signing period.  G/F Dorvell Carter, G R.J. Hall, F/C Alex Vouyoukas, and G Javon Parris should all get their chances at major minutes this season.

(Martin also recruited Boston College transfer Daye Kaba, who should impact the Red Foxes greatly when he is eligible at the start of the '09-'10 season)

Now that we know what we’re dealing with, time for the predictions.  The Foxes this season will rely heavily on returning Jr. point guard David Devezin (9.7 ppg, 4.3 apg) to lead this young group of players.  Coach Martin is relying on the freshmen to step in and play big minutes, as well as the sophomore big men to help them adjust while also polishing their own games.

With a fairly tough Out of Conference (OOC) schedule highlighted by games against Rutgers, Cleveland St., St. John’s, and Memphis, I can see Marist realistically winning around four or five of those games.  As for the MAAC schedule, I see Marist getting about 7-8 wins.

Now I know that these predications seem low, but I am sort of thinking on the negative side or “low-balling” team wins for now.  The truth is that Marist could and should shock some people this year. I just think it all depends on the learning curve for incoming players.

If the team can adjust and gain some team chemistry on the court sooner rather than later, then you could definitely see those win totals go up, as well as Marist being a legit threat for an upset come MAAC tournament time.

Although the MAAC coaches will most likely pick Marist in the bottom three for preseason polls, I see the Foxes finishing more around fifth or sixth at seasons end.

Prediction

12-18 (4-8 OOC) (8-10 MAAC)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG David Devezin 6'0"

SG Javon Parris 6'4"

SF Dorvell Carter 6'6"

PF Ryan Schneider 6'7"

C Korey Bauer 6'9"

Key Reserves

R.J. Hall 5'10"

Lawrence Williams 6'7"

Alex Vouyoukas 6'9"

The key for Marist fans is to keep support up for the team and attend games regularly.  The McCann Center is arguably the biggest weapon the team has when the student section and stands are full.

The games will be exciting and possibly disappointing at the same time this season, but don’t fret. It won’t last long as the future looks bright for the young Red Foxes.