FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield and Manhattan will start their season series the furthest into the calendar year since 1996 when the Stags and the Jaspers meet on Wednesday night. The series have been featured in runs, with Fairfield having the recent upper hand, winning the last six in the series. This will be the start of a season-long four game home stand for the Stags.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Fairfield is coming off their first loss in their last four outings, falling to Niagara 66-56 on the road. Fairfield received arguably their best guard play of the season in the loss. Felicia DaCruz and Margeaux Dupuy both tallied season highs, with DaCruz netting 11 points on 4-9 shooting and Dupuy tallying nine while going 3-4 from behind the arc. Kristin Schatzlein led the team for the 11th time this season with 13 points. The numbers were eerily similar to the first game for the two teams back on January 4. Niagara scored the same amount of points (66) in the first contest and shot .531 from the floor compared to .532 recently. Niagara out-rebounded Fairfield 40-23 in early January and 37-21 most recently. For Fairfield, the Stags had their two best passing games in the series (19 assists 5 turnovers in the first game and adding just one miscue in the second game).
ONE POINT FOR CHARITY: The Stags have found their touch again from the free throw line, connecting on 23 of their last 27 (.852) during the last two games. This is the best two-game stretch from the charity stripe since Fairfield went 21-23 (.913) in their first two games of the season. Before the last two contests, Fairfield had shot over 80 percent from the line twice this season.
ALL ABOUT THE ASSISTS, NO TURNOVERS: Fairfield had their best two passing efforts of the season against Niagara having 19 assists and five turnovers in the first game and 19 assists and six turnovers in the second game.
The 3.8 assist-to-turnover ratio against the Purple Eagles was the best in a single game in over 15 years.
FELICIA IS CRUZIN': Despite nursing an injury that she suffered in the preseason, Felicia DaCruz is picking up right where she let off last season. DaCruz currently has 82 assists with only 38 turnovers.
The lone senior is coming off one of her best shooting performances of the season, going 4-9 against Niagara. DaCruz had come into the game shooting 6-37 (.162) in her last eight games. DaCruz currently has 371 career assists and is 20 away from moving to the 10th spot in program history (Marybeth Chartier '04).
ANOTHER WINNING MAAC SEASON: With one more MAAC victory, the Stags will clinch their ninth-straight MAAC winning season, including all eight seasons under Joe Frager.
Frager would be the only MAAC coach in history to have eight-straight winning MAAC seasons in their first eight seasons. The winning season would be the 25th winning conference seasons in their 34 seasons.
FAIRFIELD VS. MANHATTAN: The two teams will be meeting for the first time this season and the 80th time in program history. Fairfield holds a 42-37 advantage in the series and have won six-straight in the series. Prior to that, the Jaspers had won five-straight against the Stags. With the February 11 date for the first game in the series, the two squads will be beginning their regular season series the latest since 1996. Fairfield and Manhattan opened up the season series on February 18 that season, and Fairfield lost all three contests. Defense has been the key in the series, as Fairfield has limited the Jaspers to 60 points or fewer in eight-straight contests dating back to 2010. At home, Fairfield owns a 21-11 record against the Jaspers and have won three-straight as the home team. Although the Stags went 2-0 against the Jaspers last season, they are going to have to regroup this season. Out of the 131 points scored against Manhattan. only 33 points are returning with Kristin Schatzlein leading the way with nine points per contest and Felicia DaCruz chipping in six. Schatzlein had her best passing effort against any opponent last season with seven assists per contest, including a career-high nine on February 21.
SCOUTING THE JASPERS: The Jaspers are coming into the contest on a nine-game losing streak after their lone MAAC win against Rider on January 4. The Jaspers are in danger of setting the program record for fewest wins in a season (five in 1993-94).
Offense has been the struggle for Manhattan in the season, as the Jaspers average 51 points per contest, the seventh fewest in the country. The Jaspers are shooting only 33 percent from the floor, the third-lowest number in the nation and 27 percent from behind the arc. Manhattan will have the height advantage with six players listed as six-feet or taller. Shayna Ericksen is by far their go-to player, leading the team in every offensive category. Ericksen averages 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the floor. Nyasha Irizarry and Taylor Williams both average over seven points per outing and have connected on 63 percent on the squad's 3-pointers.
UP NEXT: Fairfield continues their home stand when they welcome the Canisius Golden Griffs to Webster Bank Arena on Friday at 5pm in a game that will be streamed on ESPN3. It will also mark the annual Play 4 Kay game for the Stags to help raise money for Breast Cancer Research.
