Box Score
The Fairfield University women's basketball team had a look at the basket as the final horn sounded, but could not get the ball to drop as it dropped a 30-29 decision to host Villanova Thursday night at The Pavilion. The loss drops the Stags to 4-2 on the year, while the Wildcats improve to 5-3.

Fairfield trailed 30-22  when Lindsey Kimmel scored for the Wildcats with 5:08 to play in the contest, but it would not allow another point the remainder of the contest. Katelyn Linney (Freehold, N.J.) hit the Stags only three-pointer of the game at the 3:51 mark to cut the deficit to five points, 30-25. Taryn Johnson (Brockton, Mass.), who had her second consecutive double-double, scored with 3:08 to play to make the Villanova lead, 30-27.

Laura Vetra (Riga, Latvia) tallied the final points of the game with a basket with 1:52 to play in the game. Fairfield corralled the rebound from a free throw miss by Megan Pearson with 20 seconds remaining in the half. The Stags inbounded the ball, following a time-out with 14 sconds to play, for the final possession, which saw Vetra's shot go long.

Fairfield finished the game shooting 21.7 percent, 10-46, from the floor and 1-15 from behind the arc and 8-12 at the free throw line. The Stags held Villanova to 22 percent shooting, 11-50, including 2-17 from behind the arc, and the Wildcats hit 6-9 at the stripe. Villanova out-rebounded the Stags 43-36.

Johnson finisehd as the only Stag in double-figures, with 11 points, to go along with a game-high 14 rebounds. Desiree Pina (Plainville, Conn.) scored all nine of her points in the second-half, while Linney finished with five points.

Villanova was led by a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double from Laura Sweeney, and received 10 points from Rachel Roberts. No other Wildcat scored more than three points in the game.

Both squads struggled in the opening half of play, combining to shoot 9-51 from the floor in the first-half, inclugin 0-15 from behind the arc. The Wildcats did not convert their first field goal until Emily Suley scored 3:24 into the contest, to cut the Stags 3-0 lead to 3-2. Fairfield took a 7-6 advantage on a basket from Taryn Johnson, who scored seven first-half points, at the 8:53 mark. The Stags would not convert a field goal the remainder of the half.

The Wildcats tied the score 7-7 on a free throw from Rachel Roberts with 8:20 to play in the half. That point started a 9-0 Villanova run that lasted until Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 1-5 seconds remaining in the half. Jesse Carey hit 1-2 free throws with one tick left on the clock to give Villanova a 16-9 halftime advantage.

The Stags continue their four-game road trip on Sunday, when they play at Hofstra at 1 p.m.