FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University women's basketball team fended off a late run by La Salle University to come away with a 64-59 victory this evening at Alumni Hall. Three Stags scored in double figures to lift Fairfield (3-2) to their first home win of the season.
 
Sophomore Kristin Schatzlein scored a season-high 15 points, going 5-for-9 from the floor, including a 4-for-7 effort from three-point range. Schatzlein also grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
 
Seniors Katie Cizynski and Brittany Obi-Tabot each registered 14 points, two assists, and a steal for the Stags. Cizynski added five boards while Obi-Tabot had six rebounds.
 
Point guard Felicia DaCruz scored three points and dished out six assists while committing just one turnover in 37 minutes of action. So far this season, DaCruz has 35 assists with just eight turnovers
 
Fairfield dominated the first half, shooting 51.9 percent from the floor. The Stags did trail 7-4 at the 17:13 mark but a lay-up by Obi-Tabot ignited a 14-0 run. Fairfield went on a 7-0 run to close out the half and take a 32-17 lead into the break. It was the third time this season in which the Stags held an opponent to under 20 points in the first half.
 
La Salle (1-3) came out firing in the second half, out-scoring the Stags 14-9 over a 6:08 span to narrow the gap to 41-34. The Stags returned the lead to double figures, 44-34, on a free throw by Schatzlein at 12:26. The Explorers whittled away at the deficit pulling within 46-42 on a pair of free throws by Khristin Lee at 8:56.
 
A steal and a fast break lay-up by La Salle's Jasmine Allston at 6:04 made it 48-46. Leeza Burdgess then tied it at 5:36 with a jumper. The Stags countered 30 seconds later with a bucket from Cizynski. After getting a defensive stop, Alexys Vazquez nailed a three-pointer at 4:32 to give Fairfield the 53-48 advantage. Obi-Tabot capped off the Stags' 10-0 run with a free throw at 2:21.
 
La Salle charged back again late in the stanza. With 1:42 left, Alston stuck in an offensive board, was fouled, and sank the free throw to make it 59-54. Just 18 seconds later Alston picked off a pass in her own end and fed Lee for a three-pointer to make it 59-57. Cizynski converted a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to push the lead to four points. Kristine Miller made it a two possession game with a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds left. The Stags held on the rest of the way for the 64-59 win.
 
Miller finished with six points and five boards while Vazquez had seven points and eight rebounds, tying a career-high.
 
For La Salle, Lee finished with a game-high 17 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals. Alicia Cropper had 13 points while Alston had nine points and three steals.
 
Fairfield is off until December 2 when they face No. 24 Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.