The Stags will take to national television on Friday (ESPNU) against Niagara in a crucial MAAC match-up.
HOF Bound: The South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame recently chose to induct head women’s basketball coach Dianne Nolan.
She holds a career record of 510-410 from her combined time of 33 years coaching at St. Francis (NY) and Fairfield.
Nolan’s 28 years at Fairfield ranks fifth longest among active coaches at one school in Division I.
“It is always nice when an outside group notices what you have done. It is a Club I have always had the utmost respect for and to be honored by them is touching,” said Nolan.
Balanced Team: No player averages over 30 minutes per game, but Sabra Wrice ’08 has come close with 29.4 m.p.g. The Stags go ten deep on the bench with those ten players all receiving significant time. In addition, nine different players have received starts at some point in the season. While Fairfield’s scorers still get their shots, it’s not unusual for nine or ten players to score in a single game.
Post Presence: The Stags are 9-3 when they have more rebounds their opponents and 0-7 when they are out rebounded. Stephanie Geehan ’10 is leading the way, averaging 6.5 per game, good enough for seventh in the MAAC. Overall, the Stags are second in the MAAC in the rebounding margin, trailing only Iona. The Stags also get scoring down low, with Baendu Lowenthal ’09 averaging 10.6 per game, coming in at 12th in the MAAC.
Stag Report Card
The Stags went 1-1 last weekend, falling to Iona, 66-52, then defeating Rider, 77-63.
Scoring: A-
The Stags shot a combined 49.6 percent last week against their three opponents. Junior guard Sabra Wrice averaged 16.3 points per game. Before being limited by fouls against Rider, sophomore forward Baendu Lowenthal was averaging 17 points in the first two games. The one negative was the foul shooting against Rider. The Stags shot 14 of 29 for 48.3 percent.
Rebounding: B
The Stags were +15 in rebounding margin for the week, but Iona out-rebounded Fairfield 37-31. The Stags are 9-2 when they out rebound their opponent but have yet to win a game in which the other team wins the battle of the boards (0-7).
Ball Handling: B-
Fairfield averaged 21.3 turnovers per game last week, fluctuating each game. In the loss to Iona, the Stags turned it over a season-low 13 times. Against Rider, the Stags handed the Broncs the ball 29 times. While pushing the tempo contributed, the Stags still need to cut down on some of their sloppy mistakes.
Overall: B+
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