FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Look at that picture above. Do you see the passion and energy exerted on the face of Lizzy Ball? That is just a snapshot of the entire night.

The energetic Stags started off hot, leading by as many as 20 points and held on to take the season opening game against Atlantic-10 La Salle, 62-59 at Alumni Hall.

“It has to do with the composition of the team,” Head Coach Joe Frager said about the team's energy. “Lizzy has that Energizer Bunny kind of a personality and Kelsey Carey is Staten Island tough.”

“I show a lot of energy and that's what I love about the game,” Ball who dished out a career-high seven assists said. “I think it helps a lot in the game...it really gets you going and gets your adrenaline going. I like playing like that,” she said with a laugh.

The energy came off the bench with Kelsey Carey. Both team struggled in the initial minutes of the game, missing the first six shots combined, but after the Stags led 3-0 Fairfield subbed in Carey. The junior would respond by scoring eight-straight points to give the Stags an 11-2 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.

“I think I just go in with the mentality of working the hardest I can for my team,” Carey said. “I'm not out there to score, I'm just going to do whatever my team needs me to do and go as hard as I can.”

Carey would finish with a team-high 19 points, including hitting seven of her first nine shots to give the Stags a large lead.

“I feel she's always the person that is going to talk and get everybody going,” Ball said. “I love playing with her...it's awesome to have someone come of the bench and give us that spark that we need.”

The Stags led by as many as 20 (43-23 in the third quarter) when La Salle made their run. The Explorers scored 29 points in the third and closed within six going into the final quarter.

That lead shrunk to two on a couple occasions, but the Stags did just enough to keep the lead. Samantha Cooper got a huge offensive rebound and made two clutch free throws with 53 seconds remaining to extend the lead back to four. Kristen McLaughlin picked up a steal with eight seconds remaining to clinch the game after Ball made one free throw.

Cooper would tally her fifth career double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds (one board shy of a career-high). Cooper's double-double marks the first for the Stags this season (it took Fairfield 13 games last year to record a double-double).

Casey Smith added 13 points, including a couple of clutch shots in the final quarter, which kept the lead.

McLaughlin added seven points filling in for Kristin Schatzlein who did not play with an injury.

“I love it, because that's not the first time that is going to happen,” Coach Frager said when talking about the team's adversity. “We are going to be put in that situation quite a bit, whether we are down or we're ahead and have to hold on.”

They did hold on and now start the season 1-0, with a road trip against Loyola (Md.) on Wednesday at 7pm.

The last eight times the Stags won their opening game, they went on to have a winning record in the season and average 22 wins per year.