Head coach Joe Frager and senior Stephanie Geehan pose outside of the new Stag Statue on campus (Jon Ollwerther/The Mirror).
The women’s basketball team lost four seniors last year, all of whom played significant minutes. The past two seasons, Fairfield has had Baendu Lowenthal ‘09 and Sabra Wrice ‘08 to turn to when things get tough.
While the team will be spreading the wealth more this season, the Stags have been looking to senior Stephanie Geehan for veteran leadership.
She has made her mark in previous season by playing solid defense in the paint and snaring rebounds. Her arms that seem to shoot out to block shots or corral a missed jumper have led head coach Joe Frager to describe them as “Inspector Gadget” arms in previous seasons.
This year though, there is more to Geehan’s game than just playing the paint.
Geehan, named to the Preseason Second Team All-MAAC, stepped behind the arc twice in the season opening win against Rhode Island and knocked down two threes.
“She’s got the green light to shoot anytime,” said Frager. “Her confidence is growing and she’s learning that it’s not being selfish, sometimes she’s better off taking the shot than trying to make the extra pass.”
Geehan could pose matchup problems for opponents if she can continue to step outside and knock down jumpers.
“Steph and Tara and the rest of the senior class have really stepped up,” said sophomore guard Desiree Pina.
In the Stags’ home opening win against Lafayette, Geehan filled up the entire stat sheet, pulling down 19 rebounds, scoring 15 points, blocking six shots and dishing out four assists.
“Steph was phenomenal today,” said Frager. “She played a great, great game. Even when we made mistakes on the defensive end, she erased a lot by coming over and getting a hand in the shooters face and deflecting some shots.”
Geehan didn’t have her best night offensively, shooting only five of 15, but she has evolved into one of the top options for the Stags. But luckily, her other skills make her valuable on the court even when her shot isn’t falling. Several times, her rebounds lead to a fast break or a good look at a basket following her outlet passes.
“We don’t have that scorer this year, but she’s evolving into that offense,” said Frager. “We graduated a lot of offense and for a while we’re going to go through stretches where we’re not going to execute as well, but if we can defend and rebound, that can carry us through those times.”
Aside from Geehan’s 19 rebounds, the Stags also got nine from senior Tara Flaherty and eight from sophomore Tayrn Johnson. Fairfield outrebounded Lafayette by 20 after being outrebounded themselves by nine in Rhode Island.
“We work on it in practice,” said Geehan. “I think with mine and Tara’s size and Taryn’s ability to jump real high, we do a fairly good job of rebounding.”
Rebounding and defense will help carry the Stags through the times when they may lack a scorer on offense, but Geehan has emerged as one of the top options for the team.
But Frager emphasized that the team would be more balanced this season. In the past, the Stags had a go-to scorer, this year, in crunch time, the Stags will have several options.
“She definitely one of the top options,” said Frager. “It’s probably G [Geehan], Katelyn Linney and Des Pina; those three. Those would be the kids we want to get in double figures. But we’ve got great balance.”
Against Rhode Island, Katelyn Linney scored a game-high 18 points with Pina netting 14 and Geehan adding 10 with three other players adding eight points each.
“I still think we have a talented team,” said Geehan. “We’re going to look to three to four players.”
Frager admitted that this could present problems in the short term with no go-to player when the team needs a basket, but in the long term, the balance will be beneficial for the team’s growth.
Geehan and Pina both started last year and joining them this season will be role players from last year and freshmen.
“All of our rookies from last year have worked hard,” said Geehan. “Taryn Johnson has improved her jump shot and Sarah has improved her conditioning.”
Frager also praised Johnson’s improvement saying she played “exceptionally well” against Rhode Island. Johnson came off the bench to score eight points, eight rebounds and four assists in 17 minutes. She’ll provide a spark off the bench for the Stags’ frontcourt.
Paulus will also join Pina handling the ball this year. Against Rhode Island, Paulus handled the point for most of the game with Pina taking over when Paulus went to the bench.
Pina played off the ball for most of last season, but this year, she’ll split some of ball handling duties with Paulus.
“Last year there was more of a transition,” said Pina. This year has been smoother knowing what coach wants.”
The Stags will be successful if they can get six players with eight or more points every game like they did against Rhode Island. But even when the Stags aren’t executing their half court offense, they’ll have Geehan to lead the way with her rebounding and defense.
“Hopefully that’s going to be a calling card for us and we’ll continue to grow defensively and rebounding the ball,” said Frager.
All this is in pursuit of the one goal that has eluded Geehan and her fellow seniors during their Fairfield careers. Geehan’s goal for the season is simple:
“I just want a MAAC Championship.”
Leave a Reply