Game Notes

The Fairfield University women's basketball team continues its season opening Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) road trip with a Tuesday evening contest at Niagara University. The Stags are 8-3 overall on the year and 1-0 in the MAAC, while the Purple Eagles are 1-11 on the season and 0-2 in conference action.

John Cummings will call all the action live on WVOF 88.5 FM beginning at 7 p.m. Fans may also visit the Niagara University athletic website for other viewing options.

Fairfield and Niagara are meeting for the 46th time in the history of the two programs with the Stags holding an 28-17 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams won on each others home floor a season ago, with Fairfield winning 55-41 at the Gallagher Center last February. The Purple Eagles snapped a six-game series losing streak with a 52-49 win at the Arena at Harbor Yard last January. The Stags have won 10 of 13 meetings since the 2004-05 season and are 5-1 against the Purple Eagles under the direction of Joe Frager.

The Stags are looking for their third consecutive season sweep of its two Western New York MAAC games. It would be the first time in program history they accomplished that feat, having done so only three other times (1990-91, 2000-01, 2001-02). Under Frager, the Stags are 6-1 in its road games versus Niagara and Canisius.

The Stags finished through the week of January 2 as the third best scoring defense in the country, allowing opponents to score just 48.1 points per game. Only West Virginia and Connecticut rank ahead of the Stags. The Stags are one of two teams (Marist) in the MAAC that have a positive scoring margin and a positive rebounding margin entering the Tuesday night slate of games. Fairfield is +8.5 in scoring and leads the MAAC with a +2 rebounding margin.

Niagara, which is being out scored 71.0-53.6 for the year, has lost six straight games entering tonight's contest. Kayla Stroman is the team's leading scorer at a dozen a game, but has not played in the last four games. Liz Flooks is also in double figures, at 11.7 per game, and has knocked down 20 three-point field goals. Flooks is also the team's leading rebounder at 5.1 per game. Meghan Waterman enters the game leading the team with 25 assists and 26 steals, while averaging 4.0 points per game. Niagara is shooting 33.7 percent from the field and 27.8 percent from behind the arc, while opponents are knocking down field goal attempts at a 41.9 percent clip and a 35.6 percent clip from the three-point line.

The road has been fairly friendly to the Stags under Frager, who has a 31-23 overall mark in road games in his time with Fairfield. In MAAC games, the Stags are now 17-11 under his leadership and the team is 3-2 away from home overall this year.

 Fairfield has won four consecutive games entering the contest at Niagara, something it has done five times under the direction of Joe Frager. The Stags rattled off nine straight wins last season, after putting together and eight-game win streak during the 2008-09 season. Fairfield won four games in a row three different times during Frager's first-year at the helm, including a season-opening five-game winning streak.