LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – With the holidays coming up, people might tune their radio to Mariah Carey's hit Christmas song all month long.  But for two hours, all people were hearing in the Alumni Recreation Center was the name Kelsey Carey.  The sophomore tallied a career-high 22 points and grabbed a big offensive board to give the Stags a 60-55 lead in their MAAC opener.  It is the seventh straight season that Fairfield has started 1-0 in conference.

“We beat a very good Siena team,” Head Coach Joe Frager said. “ They're playing really well, so this is a quality win.  I'm very proud of the composure that our players showed when they fell behind.  To do that on the road and in a hard place to play is not easy to do.”

Known for their three point shooting, coming into the game Fairfield (2-5, 1-0 MAAC) was in the top-50 in the nation in three-pointers per game, the Stags struggled though from behind the arc early.  Fairfield would miss their first seven shots from deep, but when they needed one, they got it.  Samantha Cooper broke a 55-55 tie with a three-pointer with 23.9 seconds remaining.  Carey would then corral a missed free throw and call timeout to seal the deal for Fairfield.

Siena (3-2, 0-1 MAAC) got off to the early lead scoring 15 of the first 19 points.  Kristine Miller tried to stop the run on the defensive side with an empathic block that she was able to catch out of the air.  A few plays later though she would pick up her second foul just three minutes into the game which put her on the bench with foul trouble.  The Saints would go on an 8-0 run when the sophomore was sitting.

After the forward got in foul trouble, the Stags needed a bench player to step up.  They found that with Kelsey Carey.  The sophomore scored a career-high 14 points the rest of the half to put the Stags deficit closer.  Carey started her run with two offensive boards and a put back.  Carey even scored her last two baskets with an untied shoe lace.

“Kelsey was totally a game change for us,” Coach Frager said.  “ To get that offensive spark off the bench was tremendous.  And it wasn't like it was a flurry of shots, she continued to give her spark and it was a huge contribution today.”

Fairfield grabbed the lead once at 21-20 after a Casey Smith layup.  The Stags would go into the locker room trailing 27-25.  The deficit could have been worse if not for a Kristen McLaughlin block on senior guard Tehresa Coles' baseline drive, and knocked the shot out of bounds.

That would prove to be vital as both teams exchanged the lead in the second half.  The Stags got their largest lead off a Samantha Cooper offensive board after a miss.  That put the Stags up 41-38 with over 13 minutes to play.

The Stags had some big plays to keep the momentum in their favor.  With the shot clock running down, Felicia DaCruz found Miller wide open under basket to convert the layup.

Kristin Schatzlein also helped the Stags keep the lead late.  Schatzlein found a spot in the lane and chased down the offensive board to give Fairfield a two point lead.

Siena stayed in the game by dominating the boards in the second half.  The Saints had 21 offensive rebounds in the game and out-rebounded the Stags 41-28 in the game.

“Obviously part of it is the physical act of boxing out but some of it is a strength thing,” Frager said.  “We're not the beefiest team in the world and that physical play is an issue for us.  It's a mentality, that whatever I have to do you're not going to have a second or third chance at it.”

Fairfield held Siena's star rookie Margot Hetzke to two points in the first 30 minutes of the game.  Hetzke had won three-straight MAAC Rookie of the Week awards and came into the game ranked second in the nation among freshmen averaging 18.5 points per game.  Hetzke though would score seven points in the second half, most of them coming late, including a layup that would tie the game.

Cooper's three would break the late tie and give Fairfield the lead for good.  A few plays later, Carey dove on a loose rebound and called timeout to take more time off the clock and give Fairfield another possession.

For the game, Casey Smith had 14 points and two assists while Cooper finished with 12 and three assists.  For the first time this season, the Stags finished with fewer turnovers than their opponent (14-7)

Fairfield will return home for the final time in the 2014 calendar year when they welcome Quinnipiac on Sunday at 2pm.