The regular season has come to a close. The MAAC Championships in Atlantic City await. And in the meantime, Fairfield women’s basketball has another historic accolade to add to its long list of achievements.
For the second time in three years, the Stags have earned a national ranking in the AP Poll, slotting in at No. 25 in this week’s edition released on Monday morning. That placement matches the one they earned in the penultimate rankings of the 2023-24 regular season, when the program made its AP poll debut en route to a 20-0 MAAC season and a 31-2 overall record.
But as has been the case for many of their accomplishments over the last few seasons, the Stags are trying to simply take the nod in stride.
“It was a very quick reaction, honestly,” said junior road runner Meghan Andersen. “We talked about it for a second and then we were straight into film for watching our Sacred Heart game. Because yeah, it’s great to be recognized in that way, but our goals are a lot bigger than that. And we don’t want to focus too much on it because there’s still so much that we want to work for.”
The first goal on that list is capturing a third consecutive conference tournament title and booking a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. In many respects, the Stags will arrive in Atlantic City this week as similarly heavy favorites to the previous two seasons.
Between their new national ranking, a NET ranking just outside the top 50 and being considered the presumptive automatic qualifier out of the MAAC by outlets like ESPN, the defending champs are considered by most to be the team to beat once again.
There’s one key fact, however, that has the Stags themselves walking into Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall with a chip on their shoulders. After splitting the regular season series with in-state rival Quinnipiac, the team enters the conference tournament as the second seed for the first time in this three-year run due to a tiebreaker with the Bobcats.
“We are still going into the tournament as the two seed, and the underdog,” said junior guard Jillian Huerter. “We need to think of ourselves as such, that we lost to Quinnipiac and we earned the number two spot, so that’s something that we need to do, is go in and play like underdogs.”
Fortunately for the Stags, adversity hasn’t been difficult to come by in Atlantic City despite being big favorites the last two years.
A year ago, despite averaging 71.8 points per game across the whole season, the Stags scored just 58 and shot 34 percent from the field in an ugly quarterfinal win against Manhattan. Things got even dicier in the semis, where it took every last possession to barely claw past Mount St. Mary’s 49-48 on an afternoon where they shot a season worst 12 percent from three.
Two seasons ago, the Stags needed overtime to complete a comeback against Niagara in the championship game after being thoroughly outplayed in the first half and committing 27 total turnovers.
Of course, both those runs ended with a trophy anyways. And that experience is key for this year’s team to prepare for the tournament with a steady mentality.
“It definitely helps knowing that nothing is guaranteed, that we had two very close games [last year], and that it will be a battle,” Huerter said. “Those first two games, we didn’t shoot as well, and we had to find other ways, rely on our defense and our inside game to score. So I think that those are helpful going into this year knowing we can’t have too much expectation.”
The process of even playing in the MAAC Championships takes some getting used to, in large part due to Boardwalk Hall.
Originally built as a convention hall, the arena sports 137 foot-high ceilings and a seating capacity of 14,770, over four times that of Fairfield’s Mahoney Arena, which is already among the largest in the conference.
“It’s very different from where we play, with the depth perception and all that, it’s a lot to get used to,” Andersen said. “Especially because you don’t get a lot of time beforehand to shoot around because it’s a very NCAA Tournament feel. We struggled in the past a little bit, at least the first couple games, so we’re hoping that’s not gonna be the case this year. But I think just getting as much time in the gym as we can and working is gonna help us with that.”
No matter where the games are being played though, the Stags have grown intimately familiar with the feeling of “playoff basketball” over the last two years. While some of their close calls in previous seasons have come partially from their own struggles, the team knows that with everyone’s season on the line, they’re always going to get their opponents’ best effort.
“Obviously, we’re only guaranteed one game,” said sophomore road runner Cyanne Coe. “We work every single day and just lean into each other. There’s a lot of pressure no matter what with basketball… but we all know how to lean into each other and just kind of work off of one another.”
That cohesion is what the Stags believe to be the difference maker for their team. And with the slate wiped clean and each of their conference foes entering the week 0-0, that’s what they’re hoping will carry them through the next three games to earn the title of conference champions all over again.
“I think every team is unique,” Huerter said. “And I think this year is unique in how we try to play to each other’s strengths, and we play our best when we play together, the ball’s moving and everyone’s working together on defense. We just know each other’s strengths very well, and when we play our highest level of basketball, that’s what we’re doing.”
The Stags will kick off their campaign for a three-peat in Atlantic City in the quarterfinal round, where they await the winner of the first round matchup between Sacred Heart and Saint Peter’s. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
