Box Score HAMDEN, Conn. – For 20 minutes the Stags' defense shut down the Bobcats on almost every opportunity. But Quinnipiac, who came in as the leading scoring team in the MAAC, came alive in the second half scoring 58 points and ending Fairfield's three-game winning streak. Samantha Guastella led the way for the Bobcats with a game-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers in the second half to down the Stags 83-43. Kristin Schatzlein led the way for the Stags with 13 points and shooting 3-5 from behind the arc. It was her 12th double digit scoring game of the season.
Defense was the storyline early in the game with both teams being shutout until the 16:28 mark when Schatzlein buried a 3-point which would be followed by another long range jumper from Samantha Cooper to give the Stags (5-11, 4-3 MAAC) an early 6-2 lead.
The Stags did an impressive job shutting down the experienced post players for the Bobcats during that run. Fairfield tallied two blocks and forced the home team to miss their first seven shots from the floor.
The defense for the Stags did not stop there
Quinnipiac (15-3, 7-0 MAAC), who came in as the best offensive team in the conference, missed 19 of their first 25 shots and did not take the lead until the 13:17 mark when Brianah Ramos hit the first 3-point field goal of the game for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats came into the game averaging74.6 point per game were limited to 25 points in the first half. It was the third-straight game the Stags have held an opponent to 25 points for fewer in the opening period.
That defense would keep Fairfield in the game when their shots weren't falling. The Stags overcame a six-minute scoring drought midway through the first half which was ended by Schatzlein swishing in her second 3-pointer of the half. Despite not scoring a point for those six-minutes, the bucket cut the Fairfield deficit to two at 13-11.
Fairfield regained the lead momentarily, when Schatzlein connected on her third 3-pointer in the stanza at the 3:00 mark. Schatzlein was the offensive leader in the period, scoring nine of the team's 17 points in the half.
Quinnipiac made their run and took the momentum, and lead into the locker room by finishing the half on a 9-0 run which featured field goals from three of their starting four seniors. Guastella who had the game tying three in the team's first meeting, was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two of her free throws to highlight the run.
It was the first time in the last five games the Stags trailed at halftime, going in with a 25-17 deficit.
The offense for the Bobcats was shown in the second half. Quinnipiac tallied 15 points in the first four minutes in the half including three 3-pointers. Quinnipiac connected on their first eight attempts from behind the arc in the half and shot over 80 percent in the first 13 minutes. For the half, the Bobcats shot 10-11 (90 percent) from three and 69 percent from the floor.
Fairfield tried to stay in the game with five different players tallying a field goal in the first eight minutes led by four points by Kristine Miller.
On the boards, Fairfield, who out-rebounded their opponent for the fourth-straight game, was led by Cooper who had eight boards. Helena Orts had four offensive rebounds to go with her four points.
Felicia DaCruz had another solid game passing the ball with five assists. With her fourth assist, DaCruz moved to 13th place on the all-time Fairfield list passing Jessica Grossarth.
Fairfield will finally end their three-game road swing when they travel to Saint Peter's on Tuesday with tipoff at 7pm.
