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Women's Basketball Fairfield University

Women's Basketball Surges to 72-71 Victory Over Quinnipiac

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University women's basketball team erased an 11-point deficit to come from behind and defeat Quinnipiac University, 72-71, this afternoon at Alumni Hall. Senior Brittany Obi-Tabot posted a career-high 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor to lead all scorers.
 
Senior Katie Cizynski recorded her third double-double in the last four games, finishing with 13 points and 16 rebounds which tied a career-high. Sophomore Kristin Schatzlein scored in double digits for the third straight game, finishing with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
 
Fairfield (8-5; 3-1 MAAC) was plagued by turnovers in the first half, committing 11 while Quinnipiac (8-7; 3-2 MAAC) had just two the entire game. With the score tied, 13-13, Quinnipiac went on a 9-2 run to open up some breathing room. Senior Casey Grace ended a four-minute Fairfield scoring drought with a lay-up at 6:16 to pull the Stags within 22-17. Quinnipiac pushed its lead to 31-21 on a jumper in the lane by Nikoline Ostergaard at the four minute mark. The Stags went cold from the floor once more with a 4:38 span in between field goals until Obi-Tabot tucked one in at 1:18. Quinnipiac took a 37-26 advantage into halftime. Despite being held to seven field goals, the Stags did sink 11 free throws in the opening stanza.
 
Things changed in the second half as Fairfield found its shooting touch while taking care of the ball. The Stags cut the lead to single digits as Cizynski hit a pair of free throws at 16:04 to make it 42-34. Fairfield continued to chip away at the lead as senior Alexys Vazquez brought the Stags within 46-41 with a three-pointer at 13:46. Schatzlein made it 50-46 with a three from the top of the arc at 12:32. The Bobcats countered with a bucket but Schatzlein answered with a basket of her own just 15 seconds later to make it 52-48. Another lay-up by Schatzlein at 11:09 cut the gap to 52-50.
 
A lay-up by Felicia DaCruz pulled the Stags within 58-56 while Christelle Akon-Akech tied it with a lay-up at 8:02. Cizynski gave Fairfield the 60-58 lead with an easy lay-in at 7:24. Solid free throw shooting extended the lead to 63-58 with 6:46 remaining.
 
Brittany McQuain pulled the Bobcats within 65-63 at 4:50 while Jasmine Martin returned the lead to Quinnipiac with a three-pointer at 4:17. Schatzlein gave the lead back to the Stags at 3:33 while a pair of DaCruz free throws made it 69-66 with 3:08 to go. Martin then tied it 15 seconds later with another three-pointer.
 
Trailing 71-70, Cizynski found an open Obi-Tabot under the basket at 1:38 to put the Stags back on top. With seven seconds left, McQuain missed a jumper but tied up the loose ball to maintain possession for the Bobcats. Martin put up a three-pointer as time expired by Schatzlein blocked the attempt to send the Stags off with the victory.
 
Fairfield shot 51.1 percent from the floor for the game, including a 16-for-27 effort in the second half. The Stags went 23-for-32 from the free throw line as well. Quinnipiac shot 35.2 percent from the floor for the game. Fairfield out-rebounded the Bobcats 43-34.
 
DaCruz finished with nine points and five assists while Akon-Akech had five points. For Quinnipiac, McQuain finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Martin had 20 points.
 
Fairfield returns to action on January 9 when it travels to Manhattan College for an 11am start. The Stags return home to Alumni Hall to host Marist College on January 11 at 6pm.
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