INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 6 Marian women's basketball team got back on track on Wednesday night as the Knights made the comeback in the second half to defeat St. Francis (Ind.) 62-54. The win puts Marian at 18-2 overall and 9-1 in Crossroads League play.
Both teams traded points in the first quarter as neither team saw a lead greater than three points when a three from the Cougars gave them the 9-6 lead with 2:31 left to play in the first quarter. Kinnidy Garrard answered for Marian with a layup to cut the USF lead down to one. St. Francis found another triple, but it was Garrard and Aliyah Evans each hitting to trail 14-12 to end quarter one.
Marian scored the first four points of the second quarter with buckets coming from Ella Collier and Evans to take the 16-14 lead. However, the hot shooting USF team came firing as they made an 8-2 run to grow their lead back up to five at 22-17 with 6:15 to go in the second quarter. Kenna Kirby gave some life to the Knights as she came in and hit two triples before the guests were the ones closing out the half with two scores and the 36-32 lead.
Everything was working on the offensive end for USF in the second quarter as they shot 63.6% from the field and 50% from three.
The battle continued in the third quarter with the action going back and forth through the first four minutes of play. The Cougars were on the upper hand however as they managed to get out to a seven-point lead. A free throw by Abbey McNally fueled a 7-0 run for Marian that saw McNally scoring five points and Evans having two to cut the deficit to one at 36-35. St. France responded with a layup before Kirby and Collier scored to give Marian the 39-38 lead. USF put together four more points in the final two minutes, while Kirby knocked down the free throw to tie it up at 42-42 going into the final quarter of play.
USF scored the opening points to start the fourth quarter to gain the one-point lead. The Knights got buckets from Garrard and Kirby to take the lead at 48-45. The teams traded points for around the next minute and a half until McNally found Allison Bosse for the three-pointer, shifting the momentum to Marian. The guests tied the game back up at 53-53 after a pair of freebies, but the Knights got back-to-back shots from Kirby and Bosse with 1:03 to play, helping Marian hold off a pesky USF team 62-54.
Marian was led by Kirby who tied her season-high with 14 points and pulled down a season-high seven rebounds. Garrard also had a season-high 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, while Bosse and Evans each added eight points.
Marian will be back inside the PE Center on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff with Mt. Vernon Nazarene. Saturday will also be the annual Alumni Day for both men's and women's basketball.
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