Marist 73, Middle Tennessee 59

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Alisa Kresge and the Marist Red Foxes are crashing the power-packed Dayton Regional.<br/><br/>Kresge dished out nine assists, handled Middle Tennessee's vaunted press with

Monday, March 19th 2007, 9:03 pm

By: News On 6

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Alisa Kresge and the Marist Red Foxes are crashing the power-packed Dayton Regional.

Kresge dished out nine assists, handled Middle Tennessee's vaunted press with aplomb and helped hold Chrissy Givens in check as Marist became just the third No. 13 seed ever to make it to the round of 16 with a 73-59 victory Monday night.

Nikki Flores scored 21 points to lead Marist, Jullianne Viani and Meg Dahlman added 13 apiece and freshman Lynzee Johnson scored all seven of her points during a key 15-2 run late in the second half. The Red Foxes (29-5) snapped fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee's
27-game winning streak, the longest in the nation.

Coming into the NCAA tournament, the pundits pegged the Dayton Regional as the most powerful in the field with Tennessee, defending-national champion Maryland, Oklahoma and Ohio State. After knocking off fourth-seeded Ohio State and Middle Tennessee
(30-4) in the first two rounds, the powerhouses will have to make room for tiny Marist.

The school with an enrollment of 4,000 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., will play the winner of Tuesday night's game between top-seeded Tennessee and eighth-seeded Pittsburgh on Sunday in Dayton. The only other No. 13 seeds to make it to the third round since the
tournament expanded to 64 teams were Texas A&M in 1994 and Liberty in 2005.