Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Fairfield University women's basketball team had its seven-game winning streak snapped as Marist College topped the Stags, 60-54, in a battle for first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Fairfield falls to 11-2 in the MAAC while Marist improves to 12-1 in league play.
 
Senior Taryn Johnson recorded her eighth double-double of the season for the Stags with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Brittany MacFarlane tallied 14 points while Desiree Pina finished with 10 points. Marist's Brandy Gang finished with 15 points, all but one of those coming in the second half, while Casey Dulin had 14 points.
 
Marist (17-7) scored first on a free throw by Gang at 17:55, but the game's first field goal did not come until 15:35 when Johnson put home an easy lay-in. MacFarlane made it a 4-1 game at 13:31 but Leanne Ockenden tied it 15 seconds later with a three-pointer.
 
The Stags (18-6) and the Red Foxes continued to battle it out, going almost basket-for-basket throughout the half. Marist, however, mustered a 6-2 run in over the final two minutes of the frame to take a 28-23 lead into the break.
 
Marist opened the second half with a 10-4 run, hitting four of their five shots over the first 3:59, to pull out to a 38-27 lead. The Red Foxes took their largest lead of the night, 52-40, on a free throw by Dulin at 6:51. The Stags pulled within 56-50 with 1:30 left to play on a basket by Johnson. Fairfield would cut into the Marist lead once again as Pina made the score 60-54 with a pair of free throws with 25 ticks left on the clock.
 
Fairfield was plagued by turnovers, committing 17 on the night. Marist took advantage of the Stags' miscues, scoring 24 points off of turnovers.
 
Fairfield continues MAAC action on the road with a stop at Loyola University Maryland on February 12 for the first meeting of the season between the two schools.