FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Over two-thousand kids and fans witnessed history on a Friday afternoon. The Fairfield women's basketball team won their 250^th game in program history at Alumni Hall as they defeated the Saint Peter's Peacocks 57-46 on the first-ever Stop and Shop School Day game.

“It was a fantastic environment,” Head Coach Joe Frager said.  “I know our kids really enjoyed the atmosphere and the school children who were here had a fantastic time.  I thought this was a rousing success and hopefully we'll be able to do this again in the future.”

Kristin Schatzlein hit a 3-point basket to stretch the Fairfield (4-10, 3-2 MAAC) lead to 12 points with 3:32 remaining. The Stags led the Peacocks (1-12, 1-4 MAAC) for 37 minutes on the afternoon but struggled to put Saint Peter's away.  That basket allowed the Stags to exhale and enjoy their ninth straight win over Saint Peter's.

Fairfield enjoyed their largest lead of 15 with 10 minutes left to go in the game after a Kristine Miller layup. Miller was one of eight Stags to tally a point in the game. 

The home team, playing in their earliest game of the season, would host another 15 point lead when Casey Smith, playing in front of a school where she was an assistant, converted a layup to stretch the score to 48-33.

Three Stags tallied double figures, but Felicia DaCruz had arguably her best game of the season.  The point guard tied a season-high with 10 points and swished both of her 3-point attempts in the contest.

“She's starting to get her rhythm back,” Coach Frager said.  “I wasn't worried about that, I knew she would come around she shot the ball well last year.   With her shooting the ball this way it gives us another offensive weapon.”

“I'm just getting back into it,” DaCruz said.  “I'm going to keep having confidence in myself and my teammates just try and help out as much as I can.”

The Stags settled down in the second half, going the first 13 minutes without a turnover.  Fairfield took a five-point lead into halftime, and would not see a lead fewer than that for the rest of the game.

Fairfield shot 57 percent (4-7) from deep in the second frame, and 47 percent from long range in the game, and highest percentage since December 7 against Quinnipiac.  Schatzlein led the way for the Stags connecting on three of her six attempts. She finished with 11 points.

For the second straight game, the Stags outrebounded their opponent this time by a 39-27 clip. Smith led the Stags with seven boards while Samantha Cooper and Kelsey Carey tallied six apiece. Smith led the way with a game-high 13 points. It is the third time in the last four games that Smith has paced the Stags.

Saint Peter's leading scorer and freshman, Alyssa Velles connected on her first of three 3-point field goals 1:35 into the game to give Saint Peter's their only lead of the day. DaCruz answered back with a driving layup to give Fairfield a 4-3 lead and they never looked back. 

“It's not easy to be good,” Coach Frager said.  “You have to work really hard on every single possession offensively and defensively and some of our young kids are just starting to understand that.”

The Stags will now travel to Lawrenceville, N.J. and try to win their third-straight game as they take on Rider. It is the fourth game in the last seven days for the Stags. Game time is Sunday at 2pm.