The Fairfield University women's basketball team (9-3; 2-0 MAAC) used a pair of 15 point runs, and a stifling defensive effort to defeat Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) host Niagara University (1-12; 0-2 MAAC), 68-38, Tuesday night at the Gallagher Center. Fairfield, which was led by the 27 points of Katelyn Linney (Freehold, N.J.), has now won five consecutive games and are 2-0 to open MAAC play for the second consecutive season.

Fairfield used a 19-0 first-half run to break open an 8-6 game and then used a 15-0 run in the second-half to stymie an early Niagara run. Fairfield held Niagara to 28.1 percent shooting from the floor for the game and just one three-pointer, and did not allow a Purple Eagle to score more than six points. The Stags on the other hand shot 47.1 percent for the contest and hit 7-16 from behind the arc.   Niagara is the fifth team this season that the Stags have held to 40 or fewer points in a game.

Linney drained 10-14 from the field, with a 5-7 effort from behind the arc to lead all scorers. She also had five rebounds and an assist in her 37 minutes of action. Joelle Nawrocki (Unionville, Conn.) was the only other player in the contest to reach double digits, scoring a dozen points. She handed out a career-high six assists, a number equaled by Desiree Pina (Plainville, Conn.). Pina finished with eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

Niagara started the second half with four straight points, while the Stags went 0-5 from the floor, to cut the deficit to 13 points, 37-24. Katelyn Linney broke the nearly five minute Fairfield scoring drought – going back to the final 1:47 of the first-half – and opened the Stags second run of 15 or more consecutive points in the game. Linney had six points in the run, while Nawrocki had five, as the Stags built the lead back to 17 points, 52-35. Niagara would get as close as 16 points, 54-38, but Fairfield would not allow Niagara a point the remainder of the 6:41 of the game.   The Stags ended the contest with 14 consecutive points.

Niagara was led by the six points of Chanel Johnson and Jessica Flamm.  Shy Britton finished with five points, five blocked shots, five rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes of action.

The Stags won the opening tip, but turned the ball over 15 seconds into the game, allowing Niagara the first points of the game and a 2-0 lead 35 seconds into the game. It was there that the Stags defense kicked in, holding the Purple Eagles scoreless for nearly five minutes, while striking for eight points of their own, and an 8-2 advantage. Niagara scored the next four points, in a 50 second span to close within two points, 8-6, but would get no closer.

Desiree Pina started what would prove to be the decisive first-half run with her second field goal of the half, which was followed quickly by consecutive three pointers from Linney to push Fairfield's advantage to 16-6 with just over 11 minutes to play in the half. The Stags pushed the run to 19-0 to take a 27-6 lead on a Brittany MacFarlane basket with 7:05 to play. 

The Purple Eagles finally got back on the board 10 seconds later with a pair of free throws from Chanel Johnson, ending a nearly seven minute scoring drought. Linney answered back with her fourth three-pointer of the half to give Fairfield its largest lead of the half, 22 points, 30-8, on the next possession. Fairfield hit 1-7 from the field over the closing minutes of the half and Niagara was able to close to within 37-20 at the intermission.

Both teams recorded 36 rebounds in the game, with Niagara having a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass. The Stags committed 12 turnovers, while Niagara had 16 in the contest. Fairfield had 16 assists on its 24 made field goals, while Niagara had eight assists on 16 field goals.

The Stags play return to action on Saturday, January 8 when they host Iona College at Alumni Hall in the MAAC home opener. The game, set for 1 p.m., has been designated as the Stags Take a Kid To The Game, with all youth, 12 and under, receiving a free ticket with the purchase of a regularly priced adult ticket. After the game the Stags will be available autographs.