FAIRFIELD, Conn. – In the biggest sports night of the year, Super Bowl Sunday, the Fairfield women's basketball team will kick off fans' Sunday afternoon as they host the Monmouth Hawks at 2pm looking for their fourth-straight victory at home. With a win, Head Coach Joe Frager will also record his 150th win at Fairfield, which would be the fourth-most in the MAAC under the same school. With the 7-4 conference record, the Stags are currently in fourth place in the standings, and just one game back from Iona with games through Friday.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Fairfield is coming off their second best offensive performance of the season in defeating league powerhouse Iona 77-66 for their third-straight home win. Fairfield outscored Iona 44-32 in the half, the most points the Stags have scored in a period this season. During the final 20 minutes, the Stags missed just 12 of their 29 shots, and shot nearly 59 percent in the frame. The Stags also recorded 14 offensive boards in the contest and out-rebounded the Gaels 35-26 in the game. Casey Smith and Samantha Cooper both had arguably their best games of their career. Smith recorded her first career double-double, the second by a Stag this season, and finished with 20 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, and a personal best six assists without a turnover. Cooper, whose 3-pointer gave the Stags the lead for good, netted a career-high 22 points with seven rebounds and three steals. Kristin Schatzlein also chipped in 11 points in the win. The Stags improved in every aspect of their game, going 11-16 from the free-throw line.
STAGS ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY: Fairfield will be playing on Super Bowl Sunday for the sixth time in the last nine seasons. The Stags did not play on the biggest football night of the year until 1997.
The Stags are 5-4 in the games played on those days, the same record the AFC holds in those contests. The Patriots are 0-2 when the Stags win, losing in 1997 and 2008. The Seahawks lost in 2006, a game in which the Stags also dropped.
GOING FOR 150: With his next win, Head Coach Joe Frager will earn his 150th win at Fairfield, the second most in program history. Frager currently ranks fourth among MAAC active head coaches in wins at their present school, and 338 overall. During his eight seasons at Fairfield, Frager has averaged over 20 wins per season and has reached that mark four times in a seven year span.
20/20: Both Casey Smith and Samantha Cooper reached 20 points in the win against Iona. It is the first time the Stags have had two players reach the 20 point mark since March 2, 2014 when Katie Cizynski and Brittany Obi Tabot had the honors.
FAIRFIELD VS MONMOUTH: The two teams will be meeting for the second time this season and the ninth time in the series history. Fairfield has a 5-3 advantage in those games including a 3-0 mark at home. The two teams met just one week ago as Monmouth pulled out a 59-33 victory on the road. The Hawks limited the Stags to 20 percent shooting, their lowest shooting margin in over a decade. Fairfield forced 20 turnovers against the athletic Hawks, the third time this season they have reached that number. The Stags tried to get back into the game, holding the Hawks to just one field goal in 13 minutes with Monmouth shooting 1-16 during that span which extended into the second half.
Kristin Schatzlein is the leading scorer against the Hawks averaging 8.9 points per game in the series. Felicia DaCruz has nine assists and two turnovers in the three games. Fairfield averaged 40 rebounds per game against the Hawks last season, with Schatzlein averaging 4.5 per contest, the highest among returning players.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS: The Hawks are coming into the game dropping three of their last four games and fresh off a 17-point setback against Canisius. The only victory in the span was the 59-33 win against Fairfield. Monmouth has not scored more than 60 points in any of those four games. Monmouth is a pressing team, shown by their eight steals per game, the fourth highest number in the league. The Hawks use their height, with seven players over 5-11, grabbing 41.5 rebounds per game, the second most in the conference. Averaging over 64 points per game, the Hawks score their points in a balanced way. Monmouth makes seven of their 22 field goals per game from the outside. Fairfield will have the opportunity to shoot better if they get the chance, the Hawks are allowing 67 points per game, the most in the MAAC, with teams shooting 37 percent from the floor. However, Monmouth is quick to fins shooters and are allowing teams to hit just 26 percent of their shots from deep, the best in the conference. Monmouth is a deep team with 12 players averaging eight minutes or more per contest. Sarah Olson is their leading scorer checking in with 12.4 points per game and more than two threes per contest. The Stags held Olson to two points in their first meeting. Helena Kurt has been one of the big surprises in the conference at the point guard position and is notching 4.5 assists per outing. Christina Mitchell is their leader on the glass with 6.2 rebounds per 40 minutes.
UP NEXT: The Stags will head for their longest MAAC road trip of the season, heading to Buffalo, N.Y. The Stags play Canisius on Thursday in their Kids' Day at 11am.
