The "Showdown in Po-town" became the likely coronation for another Marist women's team as the Red Foxes dispatched the last real challenger to its string of regular-season conference crowns that appears all-but-certain now to reach nine straight outright or shared.
Marist knocked off Fairfield, 60-54, in the battle of teams tied for the top spot in the women's standings with 11-1 records entering the contest at the McCann Center in Poughkeepsie.
Marist won a game that went nearly the first four-and-a-half minutes without a field goal by either team in typical style: team play and defense.
The Stags entered play as the conference's top defensive team in the points-allowed category, but it was Marist that looked to be the better defensive team on Friday night, rarely allowing Fairfield to get open looks at the basket.
The six-point final margin did not begin to measure Marist's relative domination in the contest. The winners held a 52-40 advantage with 6:51 remaining, which was more indicative of how things went.
While Marist still only holds a one-game edge in the standings (12-1 to Fairfield's 11-2) over the Stags, the Red Foxes have won both meetings giving it the edge in the first tie-breaker should the teams wind up the regular-season tied for the top spot.
No other MAAC team is close to the top two, but there is considerable scrambling below them.
Six of the other eight teams have either six or seven losses in league play.
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