Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Stags might not get a win out of tonight's game but they gained a contagious amount of confidence. Fairfield fought defensively against a team that has won the America East four-straight years and hung around all game, before falling 62-50 against Albany.
“I thought that was the most committed effort we had on the defensive end of the floor that we had all year long,” Head Coach Joe Frager said. “They're just a really, really good basketball team and the fact that we were laying out, diving all over the place for loose balls in the last minute even though we were down by 10, that says a lot.”
The stats show that Albany (6-2, 0-0 America East) scored 42 points in the paint, which obviously was the difference in the game, but the Stags clamped down against two of the most athletic players they will face all season. Shereesha Richards and Imani Tate came into the game combining for 41 points, the exact amount they totaled tonight. Richards, who is Albany's all-time leading scorer and only All-American, had to fight all game long by the post presence put up by the Stags, but still finished with a game-high 25 points.
“Richards is a tough, tough player,” Coach Frager said. “It might not show on paper, she finished with over 20 points, but I think we did a really good job on her.”
Fairfield (3-4, 0-2 MAAC) also broke out of their shooting slump, recording a season-high 53 percent from behind the arc (8-for-15). Kristin Schatzlein, who snapped her streak of 18-straight games hitting a 3-pointer against Marist, tallied a season-high four long range shots in her eight attempts and finished with 12 points. Samantha Cooper also connected on 50 percent of her outside shots (3-for-6), and finished with 11 points. It is the 10th time in her last 11 games she has finished in double figures.
“I'm very happy about that, now we just have to put all these ingredients together,” Frager said. “We had flashes of really good low post play, and now tonight, finally, we had multiple players hitting down outside shots which we have really been missing in other games.”
The Stags held the lead until Erin Coughlin hit a 3-pointer with 1:38 left in the first quarter to give the visiting team an 11-10 lead. Fairfield would not tie or take the lead again in the game, but cut the deficit to just three on several occasions. Cooper had the play of the game when she hit a 3-pointer with 6:51 left in the third quarter to make it a 35-31 contest. Cooper was also fouled on the play, but narrowly missed converting the four-point play, which would have made the deficit one-possession.
Albany, a team that is returning the bulk of the starting rotation that nearly upset Duke in last year's NCAA tournament game, came into this contest 14th in the nation in field goal percentage and 24th in turnovers forced. The Great Danes shot 57 percent from the floor and forced 18 turnovers tonight.
For the Stags, Casey Smith led the team with 13 points and had three assists without a turnover. Cooper led the Stags again in rebounding, pulling down six of Fairfield's 21 boards. Lizzy Ball, the MAAC leader in assists, led the team with four assists.
The Stags will now take a week off for final exams (which start tomorrow) and gear up for just their second road trip of the season when they travel to Cornell on Thursday, December 17 at 5pm.
