ALBANY — The pain most certainly will linger.

It will diminish slightly when the team gets its WNIT bid next week — the second-ever postseason bid for a Big 4 women’s basketball team in the Division I era.

But for the next few days, the Canisius women’s team will be dealing in pain management after seeing its record-setting season marred by a 78-63 loss to Marist in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game in the Times Union Center Sunday.

The list of accomplishments this year is impressive for the Golden Griffins, who at 24-8 set the school record for wins in the Division I era and recorded the fourth-best single-season turnaround in the NCAA this year after going 13-18 last season.

“This hurts a lot,” senior Amanda Cavo said. “We don’t want this loss to diminish what we accomplished but I’m not even thinking about the WNIT. It will be the first time in school history that we go, and that’s great, but we wanted this championship. I know I’m going to feel this for a while.”

Granted, Marist is the gold standard of mid-major women’s basketball, but Canisius felt like it could have played better and crisper.

“We’re good enough to beat them and we feel completely empty right now because we didn’t play the 40 minutes we wanted to,” coach Terry Zeh said. “We didn’t play well. We just weren’t good enough today.”

Marist (29-3), on the other hand, found a well-rounded offensive rhythm.

Conference Player of the Year Rachele Fitz did what the forward usually does—she scored 18 points with 14 rebounds and took control of the paint.

Guards Julianne Viani and Erica Allenspach stepped up from long distance, each netting 22 points, including four three-pointers apiece.

That combination sealed the fourth straight championship for the Red Foxes.

In the second half, Canisius had pulled within six, 46-40, on a layup by Ellie Radke with 13:31 left to play.

That’s when Marist went on an 11-5 run, fueled by a pair of three-pointers from Allenspach and one from Viani.

Viani then hit a three-pointer and was fouled on the box-out by Brittane Russell for a four-point play and a 61-47 lead that essentially sealed the win for Marist.

“When it was a six-point game I looked at her and said, ‘Erica, we gotta step up,’ ” Viani said. “Rachele will always be Rachele. She always has a lot of points and always contributes, but we have to step up right now. After I said that, Erica hit that three and we went on that run.”

Viani, who was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, also played impressive defense against Cavo, who finished 0 for 5 from the field with five points from the free-throw line.

“They weren’t going to let Amanda get anything,” Zeh said. “And I couldn’t come up with anything to get her open.”

The Griffs’ Marie Warner, an all-tournament team selection, finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Russell had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ellie Radke, also an all-tournament team selection, had 11 points off the bench.

Canisius will find out its place in the WNIT bracket late on March 16— after the NCAA women’s brackets are announced. First round games, held on campus sites, will be played from March 18 to 20. There are 48 teams in the WNIT with 16 getting first-round byes.