The Fairfield University women’s basketball team played Monmouth University (4-11) last Thursday, Feb. 13. The Stags showed great effort and won 40-39, thanks to a buzzer-beating shot by Sam Kramer ‘20. The Stags are still the third seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while Monmouth is the tenth. The Stags also played Iona College this past Saturday, Feb. 15. While they put up a good fight, they sadly lost, 59-52. Iona is the sixth seed in the MAAC, with a conference record of 6-7, while the Stags are currently 9-4.

            We once again saw coach Joe Frager’s favorite starters, including Sam Kramer, Katie Armstrong ‘20, Callie Cavanaugh ‘21, Lou Lopez-Senechal ‘22 and Rachel Hakes ‘22. The game started out with Iona scoring the first few points, until Armstrong came in hot with her first three-pointer of the evening. She later hit two more three-pointers, and led the team in points, with both her and Cavanaugh scoring 13 points. Hakes had her first assist of the game following Armstrong’s three-pointer, her first of the teams’ collective eight. Kramer contributed to five of these assists later in the game. We quickly saw three turnovers from Fairfield, who couldn’t seem to keep their eyes on the ball the first quarter. Iona totaled eight steals from the Stags. This is an area we typically see the Stags lacking in. While they’re great defenders and have some of the top shooters in the MAAC, sometimes their kryptonite can be incomplete passes and steals. It was nice to see that a turnover set a fire in Hakes, as she came back and got a steal from Iona. There was a few minute stretch where neither team was scoring, and the first quarter ended with Fairfield up 12-10.

            The second quarter was a big one for Iona regarding points. Fairfield came out hot, when Kramer hit a three and graduate student Kendra Landy contributed an assist. Landy later missed a jumper, but Armstrong grabbed the rebound. Fairfield totaled 33 rebounds this game, with Iona only getting 27. Cavanaugh led the team with 10 rebounds by the end of the game. Kramer then attempted a three, with Lopez-Senechal right under the basket to rebound and put it back up. Kramer had another great assist, which is clearly a strong department for her. Landy had a big defensive rebound that led to an assist by Andrea Hernangomez ’22, and two for Lopez-Senechal. Landy was later able to steal the ball back, but it only resulted in another turnover on Fairfield’s end. Iona was able to tie the game, 22-22, and the Stags tried to push back with a few great jumpers by Lopez-Senechal and Hakes. By the end of the half, Iona was up 31-28.

            The Stags typically come back blazing after halftime, but when they saw the court their shots weren’t falling until Armstrong got down low to bring their energy back with a layup. Armstrong was fouled and hit her free throw. The Stags impressively went 100 percent for their free throws this game. Another two minutes passed with a few more steals for Iona and plenty of missed shots, until Kramer got fouled and the Stags took the lead. Iona quickly responded with two layups to bring their score up. Junior Sam Lewis had a defensive rebound that she sent straight to Armstrong, who was fouled and then hit both free throws. This brought the score to 41-38, Iona, at the end of the third. 

            The last quarter was another good one for Iona, where they scored 18 points compared to Fairfield’s 14. Iona hit a layup, then Hakes hit one too. Iona scored a three-pointer but Lopez-Senechal was right there and responded with a jumper. Kramer had a great steal that led to an assist to Cavanuagh, and two free throws after a foul down low. It seemed like Farfield had a vengeance and was going to pull this one out. Iona maintained consistent pressure, and hit another three-pointer, stole the ball yet again, and proceeded to hit an immediate layup. Iona netted 22 three-pointers throughout this game, while Fairfield only hit 19. Iona shot 60 percent tonight, and 66.67 percent for three-pointers. The Stags shot 40.4 percent, and only 22.2 percent for three-pointers. By the end of the game, Iona was able to narrowly out-shoot Fairfield, and they won 59-52. The Stags put up an excellent fight, but their turnovers really got to them. 

            Make sure to tune into the Fairfield University women’s basketball game this Saturday, Feb. 22 against Quinnipiac University! Quinnipiac is currently the fourth seed in the MAAC, with a conference record of 9-5.

 

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