The women’s basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament, but its season may not be done yet.
With a 22-9 overall record, including a 10-1 non-conference record, the best in program history, the Stags have built an impressive resume for a possible postseason bid. The non-conference schedule included wins over Boston College (20-11), Harvard (18-10), Sacred Heart (19-11) and Richmond (14-17). The Stags have also won two tournaments, the Cal-Poly Tournament and the Fordham Tournament.
Iona has earned the MAAC’s automatic WNIT (Women’s National Invitation Tournament) bid, so Fairfield would need to be selected to fill one of the 17 at-large berths.
“If I got to make the decision, we’d be playing,” said Head Coach Joe Frager after the MAAC Tournament.
The Stags have been practicing in anticipation of an at-large bid.
“We feel that we have had a season that is deserving of an opportunity to play for a postseason championship,” said Frager in a press release. “Toward that end, we are back in the gym practicing to ensure that we are ready for our next opponent.”
The Stags will have to wait until March 17, when the field for the WNIT will be announced by midnight, to see if they obtain a bid.
There is also a chance that Fairfield could be selected to play in the inaugural Women’s National Invitation Championship (WNIC). The tournament will include 32 teams not participating in the NCAA Tournament or WNIT. According to a press release, “The WNIC will separate itself from other events by performing in-depth research of programs outside the ‘major’ conference.”
Also in Fairfield’s favor is that of the team’s nine losses: Five were to teams that have already qualified for postseason play and a sixth was to Villanova by only six points.
Receiving a postseason bid would help alleviate some of the sting from a loss to Iona in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament.
Fairfield, the third seed, had high hopes entering the game despite losing two close games in the regular season to Iona, the second seed.
The Stags were coming off a 67-52 victory over sixth-seeded Siena in the quarterfinals. The Saints had knocked out Fairfield a year earlier on a last second three-pointer. This year was different as Meka Werts ’08 scored a game-high 18 points and point guard Megan Caskin ’09 ran the offense efficiently with 10 points, 12 assists and no turnovers.
Fairfield took the lead early against Iona, but Iona went on a 15-0 run and Fairfield entered the half down by seven with Iona leading 35-28.
The Stags fought back in the second half and took a 41-40 lead with 15:42 left to play in the game.
It would be their last lead of the game. Fairfield stayed close but the Stags were unable to bridge the gap.
“It hurts to lose this game,” said Frager.
Caskin picked up her second foul early and played only nine minutes in the first half.
“No doubt [it affected what we wanted to do on offense],” said Frager. “Megan plays a lot of minutes for us, but we had to move [Sabra Wrice ’08] to point and have her bring the ball up. She was shooting the ball well, but she got fewer looks. We just had to adjust.”
The Gaels also outscored Fairfield 36-16 in the paint.
“I thought we had trouble guarding off the dribble,” said Frager.
Wrice led all scorers with 18 points in what could be her last collegiate game.
“My teammates; that’s what I’ll miss the most,” said Wrice. “They are always fun to hang around with, and they are going to be hard to leave.”
Although the loss stung, Wrice said she enjoyed her final collegiate season.
“I thought it was a great success with a new coach giving us a different feeling,” said Wrice. “It was amazing and awesome to play on this team.”
Frager said it is hard to look back after a tough loss and judge a team’s season, but said he was pleased with the program’s direction and its season.
“Honestly, a quick answer would be ‘yes,'” said Frager. “Halfway through the season we targeted 20 wins as a goal, and we wanted to be competitive with the top teams in the MAAC.
“I’m very pleased,” he said.
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