Milwaukee, Wis. – The Marian women's basketball team kicked off the annual Catholic Classic with a solid 20-point win over St. Francis (Ill.), defeating the Saints 70-50 Friday night.
Marian was the first to get going in quarter one, with Ella Collier scoring the first points of the game on an old fashion three-point play to take the 3-0 lead. St. Francis responded with a made jumper before scoring the next four points to take the 6-3 lead. Olivia Faust tied things up for the Knights after she canned a three ball on the assist from Collier, but it was the Saints coming back down the floor, with a made free throw and layup to take the lead yet again. For more than two minutes of action, neither team seemed to be able to find the bottom of the net until Faust would knock one down from deep to even things up at 9-9. Marian would close out the quarter with a three from Allison Bosse and a layup from Collier to have the 14-11 advantage after the first frame.
With neither team seeing a lead larger than three in the first quarter, the Knights managed to put together a solid second quarter to have their lead hit double digits. Kenna Kirby hit a three to get Marian going before Collier knocked down the easy jumper to take the 19-11 lead. Marian went scoreless until the 5:25 mark when Sara Majorosova made the layup. Majorosova came off the bench and provided a spark for the Knights as she put together six points in the quarter, before Faust swished in her third three of the half to help guide her team to the 38-25 lead going into halftime.
After the break, the Saints came looking to claw their way back by scoring the first two baskets of the third quarter to cut the lead back down to single digits at 38-29. However, Marian made it difficult for St. Francis as the Knights continued to respond with their efficient offense led behind Kirby's five points in the quarter. The freshman guard helped close out the quarter by hitting a three with 4:54 remaining in the period to help Marian see their largest lead of the game at 17, before scoring a layup to go into the final quarter up 52-40.
It wasn't until the 9:06 mark when a basket was scored, coming from Aliyah Evans hitting the layup on the backdoor cut from Collier. St. Francis was not going down without a fight as they continued to score, but it was no match for the Marian defense as they did not let the Saints get within less than 12. The Marian offense continued to produce, shooting a solid 54.5 percent from the floor and going 5-5 from the line, with Kirby cashing in a pair of free throws to give the Knights the 23-point lead. Majorosova hit a jumper with 1:42 left in the game to seal the deal for Marian, as they would go on to win 70-50.
Collier led all scorers with 22 to go along with four rebounds and four assists, while Faust finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Kirby rounded out the double digit scoring with 12, while also adding four rebounds and three steals. Majorosova came off the bench to score eight points and dish out four assists, while Bosse and McNally each finished with six points, with McNally also pulling down five rebounds.
Marian will be back tomorrow night at 5 PM to take on Cardinal Stritch to finish their weekend in Milwaukee.
MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and mor
