FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield displayed arguably the best defensive clinic in their 33 Division-I seasons. Fairfield limited the Manhattan Jaspers to 26 points, which ties the fewest points scored by a Division-I opponent in their program history, winning their fifth-straight game at home, defeating Manhattan 43-26.

“You need to take pride in a stat like that,” Head Coach Joe Frager said. “The fact that we held them to 26 points…I thought our defense tonight was very strong. I am very happy with it.”

With the victory, Coach Frager becomes the first MAAC coach in league history to earn a winning conference record in his first eight seasons.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” redshirt sophomore Casey Smith said. “I think coming out in the second half we wanted to be strong, holding another team to 26 points is a big thing, so we are really happy with our defense tonight.”

The second half is when the Stags' (11-13, 10-5 MAAC) defense, and offense kicked into a second gear.

Fairfield held the Jaspers (2-21, 1-13 MAAC) without a point for over 11 minutes in the second frame and went on a 19-0 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 38-20 lead with 7:46 to play.

In total. The Jaspers shot just 20 percent in the second half and notched just four field goals in the second frame.

On the offensive side, Casey Smith took over during their 19-0 run. Smith scored the first eight points during the decisive run including the jumper that would give the Stags the lead for good. In the second frame, Smith, who is Fairfield's go-to player, tallied 12 of her game-high 16 points, and outscored the Jaspers (12-10) in the frame.

“I think when I don't have a strong first half, there's a lot of people who step up but overall I think I need to come out strong and play my best ability all the time,” Smith said. “Just like every girl on the team would do.”

“I wasn't happy with Smitty's performance in the first half, neither was Gail (Strumpf-Cheney),” Coach Frager said. “She really stepped it up in the second half and really played with a purpose, with a chip on her shoulder. That's what I want from her all the time because when she's in that mode, in that zone, she's a special young player.”

Three-point field goals by Samantha Cooper and Felicia DaCruz and a layup by Kristine Miller also added to the second half run and helped the Stags build a 19-point lead with 6:30 to play.

DaCruz broke further out of her shooting slump, going 3-3 from the field in the win, after a 4-9 performance against Niagara.

With Fairfield struggling for points in the first half, Kelsey Carey was the spark plug off the bench, accounting for eight of the team's 17 points as Fairfield took a 17-16 lead into the locker room.

Smith finished with a game-high 16 points with Carey chipping in 10. Carey also finished in a three-way tie for the team lead in rebounds with six board, Cooper and Smith also had six.

Manhattan, who lost their seventh-straight game against the Stags, were led by Shayna Ericksen's six points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“It's all part of the learning curve,” Coach Frager said. “It's getting consistency in what they do, trying to take what they did defensively (individually and collectively as a team) and making sure we don't take a step back. Making sure we bring that same kind of focus and really stick to the scouting report like the way we did tonight against a very tough Canisius team on Friday.”

Fairfield will now head to the Webster Bank Arena for the middle game of their four-game home stand when they welcome the Canisius Golden Griffins on Friday at 5pm, in the first game of a double header with the men's team. The game will be the annual Play 4 Kay contest and be broadcasted live on ESPN3.