The Stags celebrate an upset of No. 1 seed Marist, who they will likely have to go through again to win the tourney. (Peter Caty/The Mirror)
Three weeks ago, the women’s basketball team was in danger of finishing in the bottom of the MAAC and having to win four straight games to win the conference tournament. But seven-straight wins, all against MAAC opponents, have vaulted the Stags into the third seed for the tournament. The No. 3 Stags will face No. 6 Loyola in the semifinals on Friday morning.
“Irregardless of what happens in the MAAC Tournament, three-and-a-half weeks ago we were in ninth place, now we’re third in the league,” said head coach Joe Frager. “I have to give a lot of credit to the girls. The league is such that Marist is the clear-cut favorite and Iona is as talented as everyone, but several teams have a chance to win.”
This past weekend, Fairfield drove to Buffalo for the Western N.Y. portion of its schedule. After falling behind 17-2 to Niagara, the Stags rebounded to win 55-41 and followed that performance up with a 59-55 win against Canisius to finish the season 17-12 overall and 11-7 in the MAAC.
“I would categorize those wins as gutsy wins,” said head coach Joe Frager. “They were not artistic in any way, shape, or form. We started slow against Niagara, I don’t know if it was bus lag or whatever, but we played as if we flew to Australia. But to come back down by 15 and win by how much we did; that to me was a great, great comeback.”
Fairfield often failed to close out games during an up-and-down first half of the season, but lately, the team has rebounded from tough stretches to put games away in the final minutes.
“It’s not that we don’t have our moments, but we’ve grown up a little bit,” said Frager. “We’ve gotten punched in the mouth and we’ve proven to be resilient. There’s no great sports psychology here, we just got tired of having our lunch money taken.”
Senior Stephanie Geehan agreed that the team came together to win this past weekend.
“We won so that was good,” she said. “We had some moments were we didn’t play as well, but we came together as a team in the end. We’ve been sticking to the game plan more, following what coach wants us to do and knowing what to do. We’ve run our offense better as well.”
During the weekend Geehan set the MAAC All-time record for blocked shot with her 269th rejection against Canisius. She also became the first woman in MAAC history to block 100 shots in a season. She was also named First Team All-MAAC following the season.
“It’s pretty cool. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy, but it’s more important to win the Tournament.
To win the tournament, Fairfield will have to deal with the same problems they have faced all season. The Stags have been hampered by injuries all season and have been playing with a six or seven man rotation.
“We’re not a deep team and it’s not going to be easy,” said Frager. “It’s definitely something we’ll have to cope with. If we beat Loyola, we play at 9:30 the next day, not even 24 hours later. Loyola is a talented team and that game could go either way. We just have to take it one game at a time, drink a lot of gatorade, powerade, get something to eat. It’ll be a mental and physical grind.”
But Fairfield has dealt with injuries all season, yet have reeled off seven straight wins.
“We’re just as banged up, but it’s funny, it doesn’t hurt as much when you win and you’re getting some rewards for your work,” said Frager. “Our girls have done a great, great job. Now we just have to take it one game at a time.”
Geehan
Geehan, one of three players averaging over 35 minutes a game, didn’t use that as an excuse, saying, “Everyone has bumps and bruises this time of year.”
In Fairfield’s two games against Loyola, its first round opponent, this season, the Stags won by three and then by five points.
“Loyola’s a good team,” said Geehan. “I’m expecting a tough game.”
Frager thought that Loyola could cause matchup problems with its agile post players, but that Fairfield could do the same.
“First, I think we need to contest the three and second, they have players like McKenzie who are very good at getting to the rim,” said Frager. “We’re going to need to be good at help defense.”
Frager also thinks his team’s style of play is well-suited for the MAAC Tournament. His teams are known for tough defense and running multiple sets on offense.
“We like to run a lot of plays, our style is tournament style,” said Frager. “If you notice in March Madness or the NBA playoffs, play starts to get uglier. And that’s our style. We play an ugly style. With the volume of plays we run, it’s hard to learn everything we do, but we will put some new wrinkles in.”
For Geehan, this will be her last chance to win. In her four years, the Stags have never made it to the finals.
“It hits you more when you realize it’s your last one, but you come into every Tournament wanting to win,” she said.
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