With a 64-57 loss to Iona on Sunday, the women’s basketball team wrapped up its first half of MAAC conference play in sixth place, falling to 4-5 in the league and 14-6 overall.
The Stags’ offense has been shaky before, but it normally finds its rhythm after a few possessions. On Sunday, it took nearly 14 minutes. Fairfield went 11:25 seconds without scoring any type of points.
By the time some of their shots finally fell, the Stags were down 23-5. They finished the game with 26 turnovers.
“I thought that in the first half Iona did exactly what they wanted to do to us, setting the tempo of the game,” said Head Coach Joe Frager. “They were very physical with us defensively, in a clean way. They took us out of what we wanted to do early in the game. There was a stretch there where we missed five or six wide-open shots. I was very, very pleased with the way we responded.”
Despite falling behind by a wide margin and shooting only 18 percent in the first half, the Stags rebounded to shoot 47 percent in the second half and nearly pulled off the comeback; at one point the deficit was only five points.
“We’re going to score; we have gone through stretches where we haven’t scored,” said Sabra Wrice ’08, who scored a game-high 18 points. “But I think that once we get our heads together and just get our poise and our focus back, I know we are going to score eventually. It’s just always a matter of when and how.”
Along with outscoring the Gaels in the second half, the Stags also out rebounded them by nine.
The Stags were without their leading rebounder, Stephanie Geehan ’10, who averages 8.9 rebounds per game. She has been out the past two games with an illness.
Despite Geehan’s absence, Fairfield is ranked 22nd nationally in rebounding margin, pulling down 7.0 more boards than its opponents per game.
Also missing for a large portion of the game was Baendu Lowenthal ’09, who had two quick fouls early.
The Stags’ second leading scorer and rebounder played only three minutes in the first half. However, she still finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in only 21 minutes of action.
“It was tough,” said Lowenthal. “But other people have to step up. Mesha [Joseph ’11] played great.”
Joesph had four points and two blocks in 12 minutes when foul trouble forced Frager to juggle his lineup.
Megan Caskin ’09 continued to rack up assists, dishing out seven after totaling 10 in two of her previous four games. She is second in the MAAC in assists per game.
However, Fairfield’s offense is last in the MAAC in conference games in scoring, averaging 56.8 points per game.
Despite their offensive struggles, the Stags’ defense still had some bright spots. Fairfield forced 27 turnovers, and Wrice had seven steals.
The Stags are currently ranked 16th in the nation in scoring defense and first in the MAAC, holding opponents to 54.7 points per game.
While the Stags are currently in sixth place in the MAAC, a second half run could catapult them up the standings.
Leave a Reply