IOWA CITY, Iowa - The No. 11 seed Marist women's basketball team had its season come to an end Sunday night with an 87-65 loss at No. 6 Iowa in the NCAA Tournament's first round.
Four Red Foxes scored in double digits, led by senior Emma O'Connor (Lynbook, N.Y.), sophomore Sydney Coffey (Hopkins, Minn.), sophomore Madeline Blais (Exeter, N.H.) with 12 points apiece. Senior Casey Dulin (Milford, Conn.) had 10 points while senior Leanne Ockenden (Syracuse, N.Y.) had nine points and a team-high six rebounds.
Iowa shot .571 (32-for-56) from the field, including .621 (18-for-29) in the second half. Marist's season ended at 27-7.
The Red Foxes stayed on pace with Iowa in the first half, taking the lead several times and posted a tied 19-19 score at the 7:16 mark. The Hawkeyes pulled away to a nine point lead, its largest of the half, with 3:02 to go. Marist attempted to chip away at the lead and managed to trail Iowa 38-30 at the half.
Marist outscored the Hawkeyes 12-to-9 to open the second half to trail Iowa 47-42 with 15:21 left to play. Iowa shot 62.1 percent in the second half compared to Marist's 44.4 percent. The Hawkeyes exceled from three point range, making 8-of-12 in the second half. Iowa scored 30 additional points to close the game to win the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 87-65.
This was Marist's ninth consecutive NCAA appearance, and 10th overall. Marist's senior class including Dulin, O'Connor, and Ockenden, combined for 110 career victories and two NCAA Tournament wins in their four seasons. The senior class lost just three Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) games in four years and won four MAAC Championships.