Sophomore Taryn Johnson (Peter Caty/ The Mirror)

Entering Tuesday’s game against Marist, the women’s basketball team had been on a slide, losing multiple close games in the month of January with a depleted lineup. But a 61-60 win over the Red Foxes gave the Stags new hope for a stretch run in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

“This was a huge win for us today,” said head coach Joe Frager. “We have a ton of respect for Marist. We didn’t play well against a tough St. Peter’s team, where they really controlled the boards.”

Sophomore guard Desiree Pina, who had to shift from shooting guard to point guard after a season ending injury to starter Sarah Paulus, hit the game winning shot with 31 seconds left.

“Obviously, every team goes through rough patches,” she said. “You’ve just got to always keep the faith; stay together. That’s what we did tonight. Hopefully we’ll keep it up. This team has a lot of heart.” Pina finished with eight points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Fellow sophomore Taryn Johnson is another player who has improved her game as the injuries mounted for the Stags. She finished with a career-high 18 points along with four steals.
“My teammates found me in the right spots,” said Johnson. “We had a good two days before the game. We knew what we wanted to do and we gathered our thoughts (after the early timeout).”

Frager praised Johnson’s development, especially the difference in her practice performance this year. “Her practice habits are tremendous and she’s carried that into the games,” said Frager.

Fairfield was down 10-0 only 3 minutes into the game when Frager took a timeout. “I thought we were playing hyper defense when they were running the motion,” said Frager. “We had to take away the curls and play good team defense. Offensively, I thought we didn’t make them guard us for the first few minutes.”

Fairfield has gone through stretches this season where they allow the other team to go on a big run. But this time, they were able to battle back and hold the lead, a positive step for the youthful Stags.

Fairfield was able to beat No. 20 Marist last season on the road and while the Red Foxes are not currently ranked, they are still a strong team at 18-6 overall and 10-2 in the MAAC. The win improves the Stags to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in the conference.

“It’s a very special win,” said Frager. “You just have to roll with the punches. We had three of our top eight missing for a stretch.”

Frager has pointed to the development of Pina and Johnson as two positive developments for the team. But still, his team is nicked and bruised. “It’s hard falling just short multiple times,” said Frager. “We’re going to have to scratch and claw for every win.”

Pina and freshman guard Katelyn Linney and senior forward Tara Flaherty are playing hurt while senior guard Lauren Tucker is out for a few weeks with a herniated disk and sophomore Sarah Paulus and senior Kendra Hussey are out for the year.

“It’s not easy,” said Frager. “You try to keep a strong, stoic face. But you find yourself getting a little emotional. This is my 23rd year coaching and I’ve never really experience this. But if coaches start screaming that the sky is falling, then the players do too.”

Pina hit what would be the game-winning shot with 31 seconds left, enough time for Marist to run a final play. After a timeout and a subsequent foul, Fairfield’s defense held.
“One more stop, it just came into my head,” said Pina. “How much more have we got inside.”

Fairfield plays Canisius (5-7 MAAC) and Siena (6-6 MAAC) this weekend, two big games in terms of seeding for the upcoming MAAC Tournament.

Frager said after the Marist win that the struggle now would be to improve the team, but at the same time, saving his players’ legs. Senior Stephanie Geehan, Pina and Linney are all averaging over 35 minutes per game.

But with the win over Marist, the Stags have shown the ability to beat the top teams in the MAAC. Now the goal is to have a stretch of those games.

“Like coach said, this is a new season for us in the last seven games,” said Pina.

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