The Fairfield University women's basketball team looks to close out the home portion of its schedule on the positive side Monday night when it hosts Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Siena College. The 7 p.m. game, which is being played at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, will air live on WCTX Channel 59 (New Haven's My9 affiliate).
Prior to the game the Stags will honor the two members of the senior class,
Joelle Nawrocki and
Kelly Romano. The ceremony will begin at 6:50 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at
Ticketmaster or at the box office on Monday evening. Fans can also purchase tickets for the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championships, which will run March 3-7, at Webster Bank Arena either at
Ticketmaster or at the box office.
Fans unable to watch the game in person or on television will also be able to see the live
video stream, with John Cummings and Maria Conlon calling the action. As always, the game will be available on
WVOF 88.5 FM with Bob Mortali and
Ivey Speight on the call, as well as on-line via
livestats.
Fairfield and Siena are meeting for the 55th time with the Stags holding a 29-25 advantage. Siena defeated the Stags 54-46 when the two teams met January 10 in Loudonville, N.Y. Fairfield's last win in the series came in Loudonville last season, 51-50, but dropped last season's meeting in Bridgeport, 67-50. Under
Joe Frager the Stags are 6-3 against Siena, with a 4-3 mark in regular season play.
Brittany MacFarlane had her first career double-double with 10 points and 13 boards but it was not enough as Siena defeated Fairfield 54-46 in Loudonville, N.Y. on January 10. The loss snapped the six-game win streak and was the team's first conference loss of the year. Fairfield trailed 23-17 at the intermission and were able to battle back to tie the score 32-32 with 7:59 to play, but could not take the lead. The Saints built the lead back to nine points with just over two minutes to play. The Stags would mount a rally, getting within four points with under a minute to play, but the Saints hit 7-10 from the free throw line over the final 73 seconds to hold off Fairfield.
Katelyn Linney had 11 points and
Laura Vetra scored 10 to join MacFarlane in double-figures.
Taryn Johnson and
Desiree Pina combined for eight points in the Stags loss at Siena. Since then, 11 games, the duo is averaging 28.8 points a game, with Johnson scoring 11 or more in all 11 of those games and shooting 57.9 percent from the field. Pina has hit 11-33 from behind the stripe in those 11 games, with just six treys in her other 15 games, and is averaging 12.3 points a contest.
Siena enters the game having won back-to-back games and three of its last four to improve to 11-14 overall and 9-6 in the league. The Saints are being outscored by nearly a point a game, 54.4-53.5 for the season while holding a 1.4 rebounding advantage, 36.2-34.8. Three Saints are scoring in double-figures entering tonight's game, led by the 14.5 points per game of Serena Moore. Moore is leading the league in rebounding, 8.9 a game, and has 36 blocked shots. Cristina Centeno is scoring 10.4 points a game and leads the team with 56 assists. The Saints have five players that have handed out 20 or more assists this year. Maja Gerlyng is tied with Centeno for the team lead in three-point field goals made, 38, and is scoring 10.4 points a game.
