DePaul-Marist Preview

3/22/2008 9:10 AM

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
STATS Editor

Marist had never won an NCAA tournament game before last season. After a trip to the regional semifinals in 2007 and the school's first appearance in the national rankings this year, expectations have been raised.

The seventh-seeded Red Foxes, owners of the nation's second-longest winning streak at 21 games, will meet No. 10 seed DePaul on Saturday in a first-round matchup of the New Orleans Regional in Baton Rouge, La.

Marist (31-2) lost first-round games in its first two NCAA appearances in 2004 and 2006 and seemed destined for another quick exit when it drew Big Ten regular-season champion Ohio State in 2007. Instead the Red Foxes became the darlings of the tournament by upsetting the Buckeyes and ending Middle Tennessee's 27-game winning streak before losing to eventual national champion Tennessee in the regional semifinals.

The Red Foxes rode that momentum to their first appearance in the AP Top 25 when they debuted at No. 25 on Feb. 25. They have set a school record for victories and will enjoy their best seed in four NCAA appearances.

"Just to be a 7 seed, the highest I'm sure that we've ever been, it just shows great respect for our program," forward Sarah Smyrdel said.

Marist hasn't lost since Dec. 12, but isn't taking last season's success for granted. A trip to the regional semifinals will be a daunting task in a bracket that not only includes a veteran DePaul (20-11) team, but also host school LSU.

"Sometimes people forget how difficult it was to get where we were," Marist guard Nikki Flores said. "We had to get through Ohio State and then a team who was on a ridiculous winning streak. This year is going to be a little tougher."

Marist has four seniors back from last year's squad, but its best player is a sophomore. Rachele Fitz, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year, averaged 18.6 points this season and reached double figures in all three NCAA games last year.

DePaul is making its sixth straight NCAA appearance and has three seniors in its starting lineup. That group is led by Allie Quigley, a first-team All-Big East selection who averaged 19.5 points.

The Blue Demons, who have never played Marist, had reached at least the second round in three straight years before a 55-54 loss to Georgia Tech last season.

"We have established ourselves as an NCAA tournament team and now we have to take it up a notch," DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. "You're still defined by how you do in the NCAA tournament."

DePaul is the lowest-seeded team among eight from the powerful Big East, but owns wins over ranked opponents Notre Dame and West Virginia and also lost 77-76 to top-ranked Connecticut on March 1.

"DePaul, they're tough, they took UConn (to the wire), they're talked about all the time and they've been in the Top 25 as well so it's going to be a tough match," Marist guard Lynzee Johnson said.

The Blue Demons, however, don't have much momentum heading into the tournament as losers of four of six, including an 86-67 defeat to UConn on March 9 in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.