BUFFALO, N.Y. – The women's basketball team will look to make their long travel to Buffalo worth the eight-hour bus ride when they search for the Western, N.Y. sweep against Niagara on Saturday at 1pm. With a victory, the Stags will clinch their ninth-straight winning season in the conference, their eighth under Head Coach Joe Frager. Frager would become the only active MAAC coach with a winning season in the league in their first eight seasons.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Fairfield is coming off their third-straight win as they defeated Canisius 63-54 on the road. It was the 10th win against the Griffs in their last 11 chances. The trio of Kristine Miller, Kelsey Carey, and Helena Orts stepped up in the number three position when Casey Smith was in foul trouble. The trio combined for 33 points on 15-19 shooting during the win. Miller had her best game of her career with a personal-best 14 points (6-6 FG) and three blocks. The Stags had arguably their best first half of the season, scoring 37 points and shot a season-high 63 percent from the floor. Canisius made a run and cut the Stags lead to as few as six in the second half. Fairfield also limited Canisius, who came in seventh in the nation in 3pt percentage to a 23 percent clip, their second lowest in a MAAC game this season.
AUTISM SPEAKS: In the road game against Niagara, the Fairfield coaching staff will be wearing pins for the Autism Speaks Foundation. The action will be part of the “Coaches Moving Forward” movement, and more information can be found here.
COOPER IS CLUTCH: Samantha Cooper is coming off her second career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Cooper is also coming off her first career MAAC Player of the Week, Met Basketball Writer's Division I Player of the Week, and National Jesuit Player of the Week. Cooper has had a breakout display on the glass averaging 10 rebounds per game over the last five contests. In the 17 games prior, Cooper averaged six rebounds per outing.
IT'S MILLER TIME: Kristine Miller is coming off a career performance against Canisius. The sophomore tallied a career-high 14 points and three blocks while going a perfect 6-6 from the floor. The 6-6 shooting performance was the first time a Stag has shot at least six attempts without missing since Katie Cizysnki went 6-6 on January 16, 2011 against Manhattan. Over her last seven games, Miller is shooting .568 from the floor and averaging seven points per game (2.6 in the 15 games prior).
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 active MAAC coach to not have a losing MAAC season in their current stay, for coaches who have been at the helm for at least eight seasons. The winning season would be the 25th winning conference seasons in their 34 seasons.
FAIRFIELD VS. NIAGARA: The two teams will close out the season-series with Fairfield looking to avoid the first season sweep from Niagara since 2003. All-time this will be the 54th meeting between the two teams. Fairfield has the 34-19 advantage, 14-9 on the road and has won seven of their last eight. The two games last met in the first game of the 2015 calendar year with Niagara squeaking out a 66-64 win. Taylor McKay would convert what would prove to be the game-winning layup with 16 seconds to play to cap off Niagara's comeback. Casey Smith had a game-high 21 points in her first contest against the Purple Eagles while Kelsey Carey chipped in 16 on 8-12 shooting. Kristin Schatzlein had her best all-around game of the season with nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals with just one turnover. Schatzlein is averaging 10 points per game in the last three games against Niagara while Felicia DaCruz has 11 assists on two turnovers during that span.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES: The Purple Eagles are coming into the game dropping seven of their last nine decisions, and fresh off a 75-66 loss against Marist. All seven of the losses for Niagara have been fewer than 11 points. Niagara makes their name in the inside game, converting 40 percent of their shots from the field, and grabbing 42.5 rebounds per game, the highest number in the MAAC. The battle on the glass is what led to the Purple Eagles' first win over the Stags as they allowed only 23 Fairfield rebounds, the fewest by an opponent this season. Opponents can force turnovers against Niagara, as the squad averages 16.4 miscues per game and is coming off a 26 turnover contest against Marist, their most in a game this season. Niagara can still make their mark from behind the arc as they are led by Meghan McGuiness who has hit 55 of the team's 129 long range field goals. McGuiness is tied for third in the MAAC with 2.7 deep shots per game and is sixth in the league with 13.1 points per game. Last year's MAAC Rookie of the Week Victoria Rampado has 12 points per contest while shooting 47 percent from the floor. Rampado leads the team with only 6.0 rebounds per game, despite the team's high rebounding numbers.
UP NEXT: The Stags will return home to face Manhattan on Wednesday night at 7pm.
