Box Score

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Fairfield University women's basketball team held off a late charge by Siena College to down the Saints, 66-59, this afternoon on Kids Day at a raucous Alumni Recreation Center. Junior Brittany Obi-Tabot finished with 20 points while Alexys Vazquez finished with 12 points, nine of which came in the final four minutes.
 
Obi-Tabot, who hit the 20-point mark for the second-straight game, went 7-for-14 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the free throw line. Vazquez had 12 points, all three-pointers, going 4-for-8 from long range. Junior Katie Cizynski finished with 10 points, extending her double-digit scoring streak to five games, and grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman Kristin Schatzlein tied a career-high with nine points.
 
Trailing early, Siena went on a 12-0 run to overtake Fairfield, 14-6. Katelyn Linney stopped the run at 14:21 with a three-pointer but the Saints scored twice more for the 18-9 advantage with 12:20 left in the half. After the Stags pulled within 20-14 on a bucket by Obi-Tabot at 10:09, both teams went cold from the floor for four minutes. Cizynski ended the drought with a jumper at 6:05 while Schatzlein made it 20-19 at 5:17 with a three-pointer. Cizynski gave Fairfield the 21-20 lead just over a minute later putting home an offensive rebound.
 
Siena, meanwhile, did not score again until 3:22 as a pair of free throws ended a 7-0 Fairfield run. The Saints' first field goal in eight minutes came at 3:01 on a three-pointer by Ida Krogh which put Siena on top 25-21. The Saints took a 30-24 lead into the break after closing the half on a 10-3 run.
 
In the second half, the Stags narrowed the gap to 33-31 at 16:07 on a pair of free throws by Christelle Akon-Akech. Obi-Tabot later gave Fairfield a 36-33 lead with back-to-back lay-ups in a seven-second span. Clara Sole Anglada tied it up at 38-38 with a three-pointer at the 10:11 mark but Linney answered with a trey of her own. The Stags extended their lead to 47-40 with 7:26 left to play on a pair of free throws by Obi-Tabot.
 
While Siena (4-10; 0-3 MAAC) was scoring from the free throw line, they did not hit a field goal for almost six minutes until Tehresa Coles picked off a pass and stuck in an easy lay-up at 4:26. Siena tied it up 49-49 on a free throw by Lily Grenci with 4:09 left to play. Vazquez hit three-straight threes for the Stags to push their lead to 58-53 with 1:44 left and they were able to fend off the Saints the rest of the way.
 
Akon-Akech finished with six points and five assists, tying a career-high, while Linney had six points and five rebounds.

Four Saints scored in double-digits, including Grenci who had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
 
The Stags (8-6; 2-1 MAAC) wrap up their stretch of four games in nine days on January 12 when they return home to host Niagara University at Alumni Hall at 2pm. On January 12, Fairfield University will celebrate the anniversary of Title IX and the 1974-75 squad, the first Stags women's basketball team to compete at the varsity level. In recognition, all women and girls will receive $1 admission to the game. There will also be a reception to follow at 4pm in the Kelley Center.