BUFFALO, N.Y. – The post playing trio of Kristine Miller, Kelsey Carey, and Helena Orts combined for 33 points on 15-19 shooting as the Stags handled everything that Canisius threw out in a 63-54 win in a noisy Kids Day at the Koessler Athletic Center. With the win Fairfield won their third-straight game, the second time this season they have reached that mark.

Kristine Miller had the best game of her career with a career-high 14 points and three blocks and did not miss a shot from the field (6-6).

 One of the focuses coming in was matching the Griffs' (8-14, 6-7 MAAC) energy, especially with 2,000 kids cheering for the home team. The Stags brought the intensity early and then some. Fairfield jumped out to an early 12-5 lead less than five minutes into the first half and limited the Griffs to 23 percent shooting in the first eight minutes.

"I thought the first half was one of the bets we played all season long," Head Coach Joe Frager said. "That was a concern, playing an 11am game on the road, after a long bus ride, but we practiced yesterday at 8am just getting acclamated to waking up and having to execute really helped us."

The Stags (10-12, 9-4 MAAC) led by five when Casey Smith picked up her second foul with 13:24 remaining in the opening period.  But the Stags did not miss a beat. Fairfield hit two 3-pointers in a two minute span as Kristin Schatzlein and Samantha Cooper both connected to give Fairfield a 20-9 lead with 11:04 to play in the first half.

The Stags took their largest lead of the half when Felicia DaCruz drove down the lane and with one hand was able to go over the taller defender and convert the layup as the first half ran down. Fairfield took their largest halftime lead of the season, a 37-20 lead going into the locker room.

When Smith went down in foul trouble, the other post players held down the fort.

The post players (Carey, Miller, and Orts) combined for 23 points and shot 11-13 (.846) with four assists and no turnovers in the first half.

Smith's direct substitute, Carey scored eight points while matching a career-high three assists and forcing two turnovers with one steal.

Miller tied a career-high with four field goals in the first half and did not miss a shot in the first 20 minutes, going 4-4.

"That was huge," Coach Frager said. "If coming in you would say Smith would only get four points you wouldn't have liked your chances getting a win, all three of those players stepped up tremendously. I don't know if we would be able to get that in the first third of the season. I think they're growing up and that's maturing teams do and that's a great sign."

Fairfield shot a season-high 63 percent in the first half.

Schatzlein set the tone in the second half burying a 3-pointer that barely beat the shot clock one minute into the period. That bucket gave the Stags a 20-point lead.

The Griffs though are a team that could change that deficit in a hurry. Canisius chipped into the Fairfield lead and trailed by as few as 13 with just over 11:30 to play after Kayla Hoohuli hit a free throw. Hoohuli, who came in as the Griffs' leading scorer, once again led Canisius with 22 points

Fairfield quieted that run a little bit when Miller tallied four-straight points for a career-high 12 points and gave the Stags a 50-33 lead.

Canisius went on their final run, forcing four-straight turnovers and cut their deficit to nine after a Crystal Porter layup with 3:21remaining.

Hoohuli would convert a three-point play to cut the Stags lead to six with two minutes to play.

Then the fouling game began. What had been an Achilles heel for the Stags was one of their strengths today. Fairfield connected the first 14 of their free throws which would ice the game.

"I just thought out focus and energy in the second half wasn't what it was in the first half," Frager said. "When we got the lead I thought we kinda let down defensively, and things got a bit too easy on that end of the floor. I would just like to see us when we get that lead to get a better killer instinct and keep it going and we can dig deeper into our bench and get some rest for some of our players."

Samantha Cooper tallied her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds with three assists and two steals. Cooper was one of four players in double figures, and the Stags are 17-2 over the last three seasons when at least three players tally 10 or more points in the same game.

Fairfield, who won their 10^th game against Canisius in 11 chances, held the seventh most accurate 3-point shooting team in the country to a 23 percent clip from behind the arc.

The Stags will now try to sweep the Buffalo, N.Y. swing for the fifth time under Joe Frager when they meet Niagara on Saturday at 1pm.