The Fairfield University women's basketball team returns action on Monday, December 2 when they take on No. 24 Gonzaga University. The game tips-off at 6pm (PST) and will be televised locally on SWX.
On The Web: Gonzaga will be providing Live Video and Live Stats for Monday's game.
Follow Us: Follow the Stags on Twitter @StagsWBBall or @FairfieldStags, using #GoStags and on Instagram @FairfieldAthletics. And, be sure to Like FairfieldUAthletics and FairfieldWomensBasketball on Facebook.
Fairfield (3-2) vs. No. 24 Gonzaga (4-1): Monday's meeting between Fairfield and Gonzaga is the first in program history. The Stags last faced a West Coast Conference team during the 2011-12 season when Pacific visited Alumni Hall and lost 56-47. Fairfield is currently 4-3 all-time against current West Coast Conference programs.
Scouting the Bulldogs: Gonzaga is coming off an 81-31 victory over Colgate on November 30 in which it set a program record for fewest points allowed in a game. Ten different Bulldogs scored against Colgate. Junior Lindsay Sherbert played 20 minutes off the bench and dropped in a career-high 22 points while senior Haiden Palmer notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Sunny Greinacher had 14 points and nine rebounds. Palmer leads Gonzaga with 18.2 points per game, shooting .500 (38-for-76) from the floor. Sherbert is averaging 13.4 points and 6.3 rebounds off the bench. Through their first five games, the Bulldogs are outscoring points by 22.2 points per game. Fairfield and Gonzaga have a common opponent this season in Oklahoma. The Bulldogs were clipped by the Sooners, 82-78, in Norman, Oklahoma on November 14 for their lone loss of the season.
Last Time Out: Fairfield fended off a late run by La Salle to come away with a 64-59 victory at Alumni Hall on November 25. Three Stags scored in double figures to lift the Stags 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.
On The Road: Fairfield is 1-1 on the road to start the season, picking up a 58-55 win at Texas A&M Corpus Christi on November 9 before falling at St. Bonaventure, 74-59, on November 17. Fairfield went 6-9 on the road last season. During 2012-13, Fairfield averaged 51.1 points, 36.5 rebounds, and 16.9 turnovers per game in road contests. Opponents, meanwhile, averaged 54.3 points, 35.6 rebounds, and 13.4 turnovers. Under Head Coach Joe Frager, Fairfield is 52-44 in road contests during the regular season, including a 23-22 mark in non-league games.
Fast Breaks: The starting five has contributed 78.8 percent of the offense so far this season, recording 242 of the Stags' 307 points … Sophomore Kristin Schatzlein has recorded double figures in four out of five games this season, including in each of the last three … Schatzlein has hit at least three-pointers in each of the last three games. She's shooting 50 percent (10-for-20) during that span … Senior Alexys Vazquez is 7-for-10 from the free throw line this season, already equaling her misses from one year ago. Entering 2013-14, she was a career 37-for-41 from the line … Senior Katie Cizynski started her final season as a Stag by scoring in double-digits in each of her first five games, including a double-double against Lehigh on November 21.
Helping Them Out: Junior point guard Felicia DaCruz has dished out 35 assists for an average of 7.0 per game. Equally impressive is that DaCruz has committed just eight turnovers over her 174 minutes played this season. Her assist-turnover ratio stands at 4.38 for the year.
First Half Defense: Fairfield has held three opponents to under 20 points in the first half this season. Fairfield began the season by holding UAB to 19 points in the first half on November 8. The following night, Fairfield held Texas A&M Corpus Christi to just 18 points in the opening frame. On November 25, Fairfield held La Salle to a season-low 17 points in the first half.
Looking Ahead: Fairfield travels to the Brown Bear Classic, December 7-8, in Providence, R.I. The Stags will face Morgan State on December 7 and will face either Brown or Maine the following day. After breaking for finals, the Stags will host No. 18 Oklahoma at Webster Bank Arena on December 18. Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play begins on December 29 at Rider.
