Albany, NY - The Iona College women's basketball team's run in the 2008 MAAC Championship came to an end in the final round as Marist won its third consecutive title with an 83-63 victory.  The Red Foxes were 21-0 against conference teams this season.

Tiara Headen scored a team-high 15 points for the Gaels, followed by 12 from Thazina Cook and 11 from Lauren DeFalco.  Marist sophomore and Pepsi MAAC Player of the Year Rachele Fitz led all players with 20 points and an 8-8 performance from the free throw line.

Julianne Viani netted a pair of three pointers to help Marist jump out to a 10-4 lead with 15:25 to go in the first half.  Cook then sparked the Iona offense, scoring seven of the team's next 11 points as the Gaels took over at 15-14 at the 11:33 mark.  DeFalco later recorded her first of three trifectas in the game to give Iona a three point lead with 11:18 remaining.

Down by one with 8:09 on the clock, Fitz hit two shots at the charity stripe to put her team ahead and the Red Foxes never gave up the lead from that point.  They led by as much as 30 points with 3:39 left to play in the second half.  The Maroon & Gold put together a 10-0 run over the remainder to reduce the spread to 20 by the final buzzer.

Iona will now wait to find out who it will face in the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.