ALBANY – Following Fairfield’s grueling overtime victory over Siena, 61-55, on Friday morning at the Times Union Center in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals, head coach Joe Frager was asked whether or not he thought his team would be rested enough for its next game against Canisius.
Frager quickly dismissed the fact that fatigue would play any role in the Stags (18-12) game against the number two seed Golden Griffins (23-7), which will be played at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
‘If you’re a competitor, tired isn’t even in your vocabulary,’ said Frager, who has now won two straight quarterfinals games in as many years at Fairfield. ‘You’ve got a lot of time to rest when this is all over. To heck with tired.’
While the Stags played a tough 45-minute game against Siena, Canisius managed to win a much easier 71-46 game against Niagara earlier that same morning. Fairfield’s four key players ‘- Baendu Lowenthal, Lauren Groom, Stephanie Geehan and Megan Caskin ‘- each played at least 38 minutes against the Saints. Meanwhile, the starters for Canisius each played less than 24 minutes.
Canisius and MAAC Coach of the Year Terry Zeh will enter Saturday’s early morning matchup much more fresh than the Stags, but according to Frager, fatigue will not be a problem for his squad. With four seniors looking to close out their careers on a high, Frager clearly believed that his team would not backdown.
After the win over Niagara, Zeh, not yet knowing who his opponent would be said that his team would be prepared for getting up early, because he has got them in a ‘rhythm, because there are not many college kids who want to get up early.’
‘At this time of year, it’s about surviving and advancing. I thought Niagara spent a lot of energy physically and emotionally in its win against Rider,’ Zeh said. ‘We struggled from the floor early, but got into a groove with our 3-point shooting and played solid defense.’
The Golden Griffs rely heavily on the three-point shot, which hurt them early in the season against Fairfield in a 54-46 loss as they shot just 3-for-18 from beyond the arc in Buffalo on Jan. 16. But Canisius was 11-for-21 against Fairfield in a 55-51 victory on Feb. 14 at Alumni Hall and also shot well against Niagara in the quarterfinals (12-for-21.)
Canisius will rely on senior Marie Warner (16.2 points per game) and Brittane Russell (10.8 p.p.g). Warner scored eight points in 21 minutes on the floor against Niagara, whil Russell scored just six in 19 minutes. Bench players Brianna Lucas and Ellie Radke stepped up to lead the way, with 13 and 14 points respectively.
‘They are a phenomenal shooting team. They spread the floor well and set screens from a lot of different angles. So we have to communicate really well. We can’t give them too many threes,’ Frager said. ‘We have to guard like crazy and limit their second shots. They are really a dangerous team with second shots. That put back or kick out where they can spot up good shooters.’
AROUND THE MAAC
Two other quarterfinals games were played on Friday afternoon. In the third game of the day, number one seed Marist rolled to an 81-27 victory over Loyola. The defending MAAC champions opened up the tournament as strong as possible, led by two-time MAAC Player of the Year Rachele Fitz, who scored a game-high 15 points. Senior Julianne Viani added 12 points for the Red Foxes, who will play the winner of St. Peter’s and Iona.
That game is currently underway, with St. Peter’s edging Iona 27-24 heading towards halftime. Check back to’ HYPERLINK ‘http://www.fairfieldmirror.com’ www.fairfieldmirror.com for more coverage of that game and all the action in Albany.
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