At the end of the day, there can be only one champion. The teams left behind can either retool or continue to build.
The MAAC tournament gave Fairfield women’s basketball something to build on after beating eight seed Siena in overtime and nearly upsetting defending champion Canisius in the quarterfinals losing 60-55.
“It’s tough that we didn’t come out with a win at the end,” said Sabra Wrice ’08. “But we realized that if we put our minds to it, we can accomplish anything.
“We were really confident and really aggressive against Canisius,” said Cara Murphy ’06. “We didn’t get the win but everyone played pretty well.”
The Stags are losing two seniors to graduation, but are returning four starters and key role players. Murphy and Wrice are ranked in the top ten in conference scoring, with Wrice leading the league in steals this season. Rookie of the Year candidate Baendu Lowenthal is top 10 in field goal percentage, shooting nearly 50 percent and leading all rookies in rebounds with just over five a game.
“The MAAC tournament was a good showing for our team, and I think the kids did a good job,” said Head Coach Dianne Nolan. “We did a lot of things in the tournament that we weren’t doing during the season.”
Nolan gave her freshmen more playing time in the last couple of games of the regular season and into the MAAC tournament, giving them the opportunity to gain experience going into next season. The Stags were one of the youngest teams in the MAAC, starting a freshman and often two sophomores.
Megan Caskin ’09 benefited the most from the increased playing time, logging more than 30 minutes in the last regular season game and starting both games in the MAAC tournament.
Shiryell Moore ’09 and Lauren Groom ’09 also received increased minutes towards the end of the season, contributing tough defense and scoring variety.
“Megan was ready when it was time for her to step up and she did a great job,” said Murphy. “We were really happy with her performance, and she’s going to do really great things next year.”
The freshmen are making an impact on the team, but it is the emergence of the upperclassmen playing along with the underclassmen that would make for a dangerous combination.
“I was waiting until Megan was ready,” said Nolan. “She progressed in practice towards the end of the season and when she settled in she did what I thought she was capable of doing.”
The Stags have brought in four recruits in each of the last two seasons and these recruits have been the most productive recruiting classes in the last few years. The team is loaded with guards and small forwards but this allows the team to get up and down the court easily, using youth and speed to their advantage.
“We are going to be dangerous next year in the MAAC,” said Wrice. “Other teams really have to realize what we are bringing back. We started a freshman during the tournament that didn’t play point guard all season, and she came in and did an awesome job.”
In addition to the promising freshmen, the Stags also have 2004 Rookie of the Year Candice Lindsay who suffered an ankle injury mid-way through the season and didn’t play much after that.
Lindsay was the third leading scorer on the team last year with nine points per game and second on the team in rebounds grabbing nearly six a game. She will be crucial to the play of the Stags next year, as she brings aggressiveness on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.
Nolan will look for that aggressiveness next season from all of her players.
“We are going to need all of our players to step up next year, as roles will be increased,” said Nolan. “We are going to have a good post season in order to prepare for a great season next year.”
Following the men’s head coaching change, Nolan dismissed the rumors that she will leave Fairfield.
The biggest question though, is whether Nolan will be back next year. Athletic Director Gene Doris, who choes not to renew the contract of men’s Head Coach Tim O’Toole, said an “evaluation process” is taking place.
Nolan, for her part, says she will be back, looking to start things off with win No. 503.
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