The Fairfield University women's basketball team looks for its fourth sweep of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival on Saturday as it travels to Lawrenceville, N.J. for a contest with Rider University. The Stags are 15-8 overall for the year and are in fourth place in the league at 8-4. The Broncs are 3-20 on the season and are tied for seventh in the MAAC at 3-9. The Stags lost their last outing to Marist, while Rider defeated Iona in at home in double-overtime.
John Cummings and Maria Conlon will call all the action live on
WVOF 88.5 live from Alumni Gymnasium at 2 p.m. Saturday. Fans can find additional viewing options for the game by visiting Rider's
athletic website.
Fairfield and Rider are meeting for the 31st time this afternoon in women's basketball with the Stags holding a 27-3 advantage. The Stags have won the last three meetings, including both contests last season. Rider snapped an eight-game Stag series win streak with a 51-46 win at Alumni Hall on February 23, 2009. Fairfield has three win streaks in the series of five or more games, with the longest being 11 games from February 26, 2000 through February 26, 2004.
Taryn Johnson has back-to-back double-doubles and was named the MAAC Player of the Week for the second consecutive week on Monday. She was also named to the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight Honor Roll on Thursday.
Brittany MacFarlane knocked down a career-best 3-6 from behind the arc against Marist on Sunday, on her way to a career-high 14 points. She is leading the MAAC in conference games by averaging 9.1 rebounds a contest.
Rider snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday with its 93-87 double-overtime win over Iona and is now 3-20 on the season and 3-9 in league play. The Broncs last two victories have both required extra time, and come at home, as Rider beat Saint Peter's 70-69 on January 15 in one extra period. Sarah Homan had 19 points and 20 rebounds in the win over Iona, while MyNeshia McKenzie has scored 16 points or more in two of the last three games. Homan is now averaging 6.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in league games, while McKenzie is scoring 7.8 points a game against league foes.
No Broncs are scoring in double-digits entering today's game with Shereen Lightbourne leading the way at 9.8 points per game. Alli Heller, who is leading the MAAC in shooting from behind the arc at 51 percent (51-102), is scoring 9.1 points per game for the year. The teams leading rebounder is Caitlin Bopp, 8.7 a game, to go along with her 8.0 points. The Broncs are scoring 52.3 points per game, while allowing foes to shoot 42.1 percent from the field and average 70.4 points an outing. Rider has more than double the number of turnovers (520) as it has assists (209) and is -6.2 in turnover margin. Carleigh Brown leads the team with 31 assists, but five other Broncs have 20 or more assists on the year, while every player that averages more than six minutes a game has committed at least 26 turnovers.
