CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Fairfield University women's basketball team opened its 2013-14 campaign with a 59-54 victory over the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) at the Emerald Hotel Islanders Classic this afternoon. Senior Katie Cizynski and sophomore Kristin Schatzlein each scored in double figures for the Stags.

Cizynski netted 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the floor and 5-for-8 from the free throw line. Schatzlein posted 10 points and four rebounds.

Junior Felicia DaCruz drained a three-pointer 47 seconds into the game to ignite an 11-0 run for the Stags over the first five minutes action. UAB countered with a 7-0 run of its own to cut the gap to 11-7 at the 13:13 mark. Fairfield pushed its lead back to 11 points, 18-7, with a 7-0 run which was capped off with a lay-up by rookie Kristine Miller. The Stags controlled the rest of the way, taking a 28-19 lead into halftime.

Fairfield opened the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 35-19 advantage on a bucket by Brittany Obi-Tabot at 18:09. The Blazers began to chip away at the lead, using an 18-4 run to cut the gap to 43-41 with just over eight minutes left to play. Schatzlein stopped the run with a three-pointer, but the Blazers' Ashley Grimes hit a jumper at 7:37 and then drained a three-pointer 36 seconds later to give UAB the 46-44 lead, its first of the day.

The Stags stormed back with a 10-0 run. Alexys Vazquez hit a pair of free throws at 5:52 to tie the game, 46-46. Fairfield then retook the lead, 48-46, on a lay-up by Christelle Akon-Akech at 4:38. A pair of free throws by Schatzlein and back-to-back lay-ups by Obi-Tabot pushed Fairfield's lead to 54-46 with 2:40 left in the game.

UAB (0-1) took advantage of a Fairfield turnover and sank a jumper at 1:25 to pull within 55-52. With 51 seconds remaining, the Blazers turned the ball over in their own end to give the ball back to Fairfield. DaCruz sank a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left but UAB hit a jumper eight seconds later to pull within 57-54. After a Vazquez free throw made it a four-point game, DaCruz got back on defense and drew a charge to give the ball back to Fairfield with 10 seconds left to play. Vazquez iced the game with a free throw with 7.2 ticks left on the clock.

Obi-Tabot finished with nine points and four boards while DaCruz had eight points and four assists. Vazquez finished with four points, all from the charity stripe, and grabbed five rebounds. Akon-Akech had four points and four rebounds while Lizzy Ball played a career-high 16 minutes with two points and a rebound.

In her Fairfield debut, Miller grabbed seven rebounds, netted five points, and came away with two steals in 20 minutes of action. Freshman Samantha Cooper had three points in her first game as a Stag while classmate Kelsey Carey had a rebound.

For UAB, Grimes finished with a game-high 26 points on 11-for-24 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds.

Head Coach Joe Frager is now 14-2 all-time in season openers, which includes a 6-1 at the helm of the Stags.

Fairfield (1-0) will face host Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the title game tomorrow, November 9, at 7:30pm (CST).