Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Marist at St. Peters, WBB

by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, NJ - The first eight minutes were close. Then Marist went on a tear en route to a 79-38 victory over St. Peter's in a MAAC women's meeting. An impressive offensive team, the story of this game at Yanitelli Center, was the Red Foxes' outstanding defense.

Efficiency numbers:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Marist	67	118
St. Peter's	67	57

Marist entered the game a 65 possession team in MAAC play. Their offensive efficiency was 104 and the defensive number, an outstanding 66. They came to Yanitelli 15-0 in conference play and while they have the offensive weapons, Marist begins with defense.

At the half in this contest, Marist led 33-13. The pace saw Marist with 37 possessions and St. Peter's 36. The efficiency margin (offensive minus defensive) for the Red Foxes was off that chart at +53 with an 89 on offense and 36 on the defensive end.

The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Marist	56	14	29	11
St. Peter's	30	11	26	30

Marist dominated in virtually every area. Outside shooting has been a concern of late to coach Brian Giorgis. Tonight the Red Foxes hit 10 of 21 beyond the arc. A significant number as league opposition, especially Fairfield who gave Marist their toughest MAAC test to date, before losing 54-52 a few weeks ago, will show a lot of zone. Erica Allensbach (3 of 6), Corielle Yarde (2 of 5) and Christine Best (2 of 2) all found the shooters touch from three.

Marist's Erica Allenspach prepares to inbound

The Defense Never Rests
With 12 minutes to play in the first half Marist had an 11-9 lead. St. Peter's was playing confidently and was able to get the ball inside. At that point I decided to chart the possessions the final dozen minutes of the half. The results epitomized the Marist D.

			Off.
	Poss.	Pts.	Eff.
Marist	22	22	100
St. Peter's	23	4	17

Six of the St. Peter's possessions ended in turnovers. They did not score a field goal and the first points during that stretch were on two Teresa Manigasso free throws with 2:29 to play in the half.

Beside the forcing 20 St. Peter's turnovers and limiting them to 24% field goal shooting (6 of 12 from three boosted the eFG mark to 30%) from the floor, Giorgis was pleased with Marist's 10 blocked shots and 10 steals. Kate Oliver a 6-4 sophomore forward rejected four shots and altered a few more along the way.

The Marist defensive staple is man to man. The latter part of the second half with a big lead Giorgis zoned. Given their length and defensive reaction, Marist did not do a bad job in that defense. Still, the man to man, as noted is the primary option.

Celebration just after the buzzer

St. Bonaventure Connection
On the men's side when St. John's takes down another ranked opponent there is mention of the Red Storm's early season losses to Fordham and St. Bonaventure. With the women, Marist now has the nation's longest win streak at 21 games. Their last loss? December 4th 45-40, like St. John's at home, against the Lady Bonnies of St. Bonaventure. In an ironic twist the only other Marist setback was opening night against the St. John's women.

Notes
Marist is 25-2 (16-0 in the MAAC). St. Peter's 3-24 (3-13 in conference). Three Marist players wee in double figures. Erica Allenspach and Kelsey Beynnon shared scoring honors with 13 points each. Jynae Judson paced St. Peter's with 10 points. Marist had 11 players log at least 11 minutes of playing time. Marist held a 36-10 advantage in points in the paint and a 27-5 edge in points off turnovers.

Giorgis stated in post game interviews that this team is still on a mission. "They are playing with a little chip," he said. "We lost a great player Rachelle Fitz whose number was retired Friday. Some people wondered how we would do without her. These kids want to show they can do something special like go undefeated in MAAC play. That is their goal and focus."

Brian Giorgis interviewed on radio
Julianne Viani (l), recently starred for Marist
now does analysis for their broadcasts

Marist closes out the regular season with two interesting matchups, visiting Siena Friday and Fairfield on Sunday. St. Peter's will host Rider on Thursday and visit Loyola on Sunday.

A Side Trip in Jersey City...
An afternoon officiating assignment nearby gave me a chance to snap a few Hamilton Park Winter scenes. A beautiful scene, but a real contrast to the setting when Summer League is in full swing.

Courts wait silently, patiently
for the players to return


Close your eyes and picture
the fans surrounding the courts...
can you hear the crowd buzz?

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Fairfield at St. Peter's WBB

by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, NJ- The Fairfield women's team won their third straight, 61-46 over St. Peter's Friday night. The game at Yanitelli Center saw the Stags impose their defensive will on the contest. The pace and efficiency:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Fairfield	68	90
St. Peter's	62	74

Fairfield prefers a slower pace. St. Peter's, especially trailing the second half, utilized full court pressure to force turnovers and get the Stags in a quicker tempo of play.

The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Fairfield	47	28	42	31
St. Peter's	35	10	35	23

The St. Peter's pressure did get the Stags into rushing things. On the night they had 21 turnovers. Most of those however were in the latter 10 minutes of the game when they were enjoying a double digit lead. Fairfield coach Joe Frager was not pleased with the turnovers, especially with a number of them coming in the latter minutes (which are crucial in a close contest) when St. Peter's forced a chaotic tempo. Defense, boards and getting to the line were all strongly in Fairfield's favor.

Tempo-free proof. Discussing the game with Fairfield sophomore guard Katelyn Linney, she said that Fairfield's number one defense is "a source of pride and something we work on daily." Linney was referring to the Stags' defensive points allowed average of 48 points per game. Now the question, is the 48 ppg allowed due to a slower tempo? A tempo-free look at the 18 games prior to coming to St. Peter's yielded these results:

Opposing		Defensive
Pace	Pts	Efficiency
64	864	75

Without looking at some of the other top women's teams in the nations, the numbers show Fairfield is playing some pretty sound defense. The 64 possession pace is pedestrian. But the 75 allowed on the defensive end is nothing short of outstanding.

Numbers

Fairfield is 13-6 (6-3 in the MAAC). St. Peter's falls 10 (3-17 (3-6). Linney led all scorers with 19 points. Lauren Morris paced St. Peter's with 14 points. Brittany MacFarlane, Fairfield's 6-1 sophomore, did not score but led all players with 11 rebounds. Fairfield junior forward Taryn Johnson had an impressive all around effort. Johnson scored 17 points while grabbing 9 rebounds and handing out a game high 6 assists. Admiring St. Peter's work ethic and resilience in a tough injury riddled year, Frager called them "the most dangerous 3-17 team you will find anywhere." St. Peter's freshman Teresa Manigrasso (8 points) and Linney were teammates on St. John Vianney's 2009 NJ High School Girls Tournament of Champions title winners.