When seniors Sabra Wrice, Stephanie Cziria and Meka Werts walked off the court, their eyes welled. Their teammates embraced them and the game clock expired for perhaps the last time in their careers.
The women’s basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss 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 took the lead early, as they went ahead 15-6. However, Fairfield then struggled to get open looks and went cold from the floor. 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 and trimmed the lead to four with 1:54 left, but Iona made all of their foul shots and the Stags were unable to bridge the gap.
“It hurts to lose this game,” said Head Coach Joe Frager.
Junior point guard Megan 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 Stags also struggled to contain Iona in the paint, where the Gaels outscored Fairfield 36-16.
“I thought we had trouble guarding off the dribble,” said Frager.
Baendu Lowenthal ’09 was also forced to the bench early in the second half as she picked up her second and third fouls in quick succession. Lowenthal scored 11 points along with seven rebounds.
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.”
Despite the disappointing end, Fairfield still enjoyed a successful season. Frager said it is hard to look back after a loss and judge his team’s season, but he 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.”
Wrice was also pleased with her final college season.
“I though 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.”
It is possible that Fairfield still could extend its season. With a 22-9 overall record including a 10-1 non-conference record and wins over Boston College (22-10), Harvard (18-9), Sacred Heart (19-10) and Richmond (14-16), the Stags have built an impressive resume for a possible postseason bid. Fairfield, ranked 73rd in RPI according to realtimerpi.com, could earn a bid to the WNIT depending on how future games play out.
If Iona were to win the MAAC Tournament and earn the automatic NCAA berth, Marist would likely receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. That would give Fairfield the MAAC’s automatic WNIT berth as the highest remaining MAAC seed.
If Fairfield does not receive the automatic berth, it 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 Frager.
There is also a chance that Fairfield could be selected to play in the inaugural Women’s National Invitation Championship (WNIC). The tournament plans to include 32 teams not included in the NCAA 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.”
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