BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Kristine Miller must love playing against Canisius. For the second-straight meeting, Miller shot a perfect 6-6 from the floor and tied a career-high 14 points as the Stags closed out Canisius 61-58 at Webster Bank Arena for their sixth-straight home win. Miller recorded her first career double-double finishing with a career-best 10 rebounds and four steals in Fairfield's annual Play4Kay contest.

“I can't say enough about Millz's performance,” Head Coach Joe Frager said. “The biggest thing about Miller is her self-confidence. This is what we saw when we were recruiting her, she can do these types of things.”

“I think I was just trying to keep my calm and my composure,” Miller said. “I was just trying to go up strong every time and I guess that results in going 6-6.”

Miller's prior 6-6 performance was the first time a Stag did not miss from the floor with at least six attempts since Katie Cizynski in 2011.

It was Miller's two free throws with two seconds remaining that took some pressure off the Stags who had led for 36 minutes in the contest.

The Griffs (8-16, 6-9 MAAC) had the ball after a Fairfield (12-13, 11-5 MAAC) missed free throw with 18 seconds remaining and down by just two. Kelsey Carey made the hustle play of the game when she cut off the point guard and swiped the ball and made a free throw with 13 ticks remaining.

Fairfield led by as many as nine on three different occasions in the finals four minutes of the game before Canisius made their run.

The comeback for Canisius almost was successful from the free throw line. Fairfield missed five of their first nine attempts but hit six of their final nine free throws to keep the lead.

On the other side, the Golden Griffins were successful on 19 of their first 20 free throws and found themselves on the charity stripe with a chance to tie the contest with 24 seconds left but Crystal Porter missed the first of her two attempts preserving a one-point Fairfield lead.

The Stags had to play the majority of the game without their leading scorer when Casey Smith went down in foul trouble and was limited to 16 minutes. In her absence, other Stags stepped up as Fairfield totaled 25 bench points with Margeaux Dupuy having a career-high 14 points and Kelsey Carey chipping in 11.

“It's just part of being a team,” Miller said. “It's what we do when one teammate is having trouble whether in basketball or out of basketball you help them. I think when Casey went down, me and Kelsey (Carey) and others had to pick it up.”

“We haven't put it into a motto but it's something we talked about all through preseason,” Coach Frager said. “We try and use the San Antonio Spurs as a model. You talk about Tim Duncan but you look at their sixth, seventh, eighth player and the distribution they have and someone steps up and not be selfish. That's the model we are trying for.”

Fairfield took the lead for good on a Felicia DaCruz 3-pointer with 13:38 left to make the score 33-31. Canisius would tie the score 18 seconds later but Dupuy put Fairfield ahead on a layup.

The Stags scored the first six points of the contest and did not allow a Canisius point until the 15:47 mark. The Griffs would not take the lead until two free throws by Laniere Coleman made the score 21-20 with 3:33 left in the period. The Stags took the lead into the locker room when Miller made a layup in the closing seconds.

It was the 10^th time this season that Fairfield was able to overcome a second half deficit to eventually win the game.

“That's huge,” Coach Frager said. “Anytime they can be put into stressful situations and the more times they have to come from behind or claw to win games like this, experience is the best teacher. We can practice all we want but they need to be in those situations.”

Miller was one of three Stags in double figures with Carey having 11 and Dupuy tallying 14. DaCruz dished out four assists and is now 12 assists shy of breaking into the top-10 in the Fairfield record book. The senior also shot 2-3 from long range.

DaCruz will be honored in Fairfield's next game as they take on Siena on Saturday, February 21, at noon at the Webster Bank Arena. The game will be the first of a doubleheader and streamed on ESPN3.