• Recap
• Bleachers

Flores leads Marist to another upset in NCAAs

Mar 20, 2007 - 3:32 AM PALO ALTO, California (Ticker) -- Nikki Flores and Marist apparently decided that posting their first NCAA Tournament win wasn't enough.

Flores scored 21 points and the 13th-seeded Red Foxes continued their unlikely run into the Dayton Region semifinals with a 73-59 victory over No. 5 Middle Tennessee in a second-round matchup.

Marist (29-5) opened the tournament with a 67-63 victory over fourth-seeded Ohio State for its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. The Red Foxes moved on to a matchup with either top-seeded Tennessee or No. 8 Pittsburgh by snapping Middle Tennessee's (30-4) 27-game winning streak.

The Red Foxes join Texas A&M (1994) and Liberty (2005) as the only No. 13 seeds to have ever reached the "Sweet 16."

Marist handled Middle Tennessee's press with relative ease, committing only 12 turnovers. The Red Foxes led, 40-29, at the break and withstood a run by the Blue Raiders early in the second half.

Middle Tennessee pulled within 42-40 on a 3-pointer by Johnna Abney with 14:57 to play. The Red Foxes responded with a 10-2 run that Flores capped with a jumper to make it 52-42 with 10:53 to go.

The Blue Raiders never got closer than five and the Red Foxes led by as many as 18 in the final minutes.

Meg Dahlman and Julianne Viani scored 13 points and Rachele Fitz had 10 for Marist.

Chrissy Givens scored 16 points and Krystle Horton had 10 for Middle Tennessee.