Fort Wayne, Ind. The No. 6 Marian women's basketball team escaped the Hutzell Athletic Center with a 65-56 victory. The balanced attack by the Knights help move them to a perfect 8-0 record in the Crossroads League and improve their overall record to 17-1.
Saint Francis got off to a hot start to begin the game, jumping out to a 7-2 lead before a jumper and three-pointer by Allison Bosse got Marian within one at 8-7. A 6-2 run by the Cougars put them back up five with 4:27 left to play in the first quarter. Kinnidy Garrard gave the Knights some spark off the bench as she came up with four quick points and a big-time block to help her team cut the deficit to 16-13. The two teams traded points the remainder of the period, but it was the Cougars holding the 21-16 advantage after quarter one.
The game continued to be tightly contested to start as the margin stayed within single digits through the first two quarters of play.
Garrard picked up where she left off to start the second quarter by hitting a pair of free throws to cut the Cougar lead to 21-18. St. Francis answered back with two of their own free throws and took the five-point lead with 6:18 left to play in the quarter. A Bosse triple and layup by Aliyah Evans evened things up at 25-25, but the Cougars continued to respond to regain their lead. Marian scored the last six points of the half with two minutes to play to tie it up at 31-31.
Marian was able to gain an 11-point lead after halftime with an 11-0 run, highlighted by five Ella Collier points. USF finally responded at the 5:23 mark with a free throw before Sara Majorosova connected with Bosse for the long ball to grow the Knights' lead to 45-32. The Cougars put together a late 12-2 run to close out the third quarter trailing by three at 47-44.
The opening two and half minutes saw the two teams trading points before a small 6-0 run by the Knights put them up nine. St. Francis put up a fight, clawing back to within three with 3:43 left to play. Six straight points from Collier gave Marian the nine-point cushion with a little over a minute to go. USF came back down the floor to score a layup with 54 ticks left on the clock, but it was too late as Marian was able to hold off the hosts and go on to win 65-56.
Five Knights scored in double-digits with Bosse leading the way with 17 points. Collier added 12 points and six rebounds, while Evans scored 12 points to go along with five rebounds. Perryman and Garrard each added 10 points and four rebounds.
The Knights return to the court on Saturday, January 14 on the road at Mount Vernon Nazarene. Tipoff is set for 1 PM.
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