Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Yes, it was another disappointing loss but Head Coach Joe Frager easily sees that this is not the same Fairfield team from just two weeks ago. They are constantly improving. The Stags shot a season-high 59 percent from behind the arc, but Quinnipiac took advantage of a low scoring second quarter to take a 64-55 victory against the Stags at Alumni Hall.
“I'm really proud of the way our kids battled tonight,” Frager said. “We had our chances late. But we can't keep having that one flat quarter. We played well for three quarters.”
That quarter Frager is referring to came in the second frame when the Stags (8-10, 3-6 MAAC) did not record a point until the 2:48 mark and managed just two field goals (one with two seconds remaining).
That came after a first period when the Stags could not miss. Fairfield tallied 19 points in the first quarter, led by Samantha Cooper who hit all three of her three-point attempts and led Fairfield to a 70 percent shooting efficiency.
“That's great to see,” Frager said. “Sam has been struggling and she really carried us and had a great first quarter.”
Quinnipiac (10-7. 5-3 MAAC) was equally as efficient during the first 10 minutes and weathered the Fairfield shooting as the Stags only led by two (19-17) going into the second quarter.
The Bobcats would take control of the second quarter after starting the period on a 9-0 run. The defending MAAC Champions also showed their depth with four players reaching six points in the first half, while Cooper led the Stags with 12.
Fairfield made a statement coming out of the locker room when Kristin Schatzlein buried a 3-pointer just 13 seconds after the whistle, cutting the deficit to six at 34-28. However, every time the Stags made a shot, the Bobcats answered right back. Maria Napolitano knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Quinnipiac lead back up to nine, and for the next five minutes, the teams would exchange baskets.
In the fourth quarter, Morgan Manz hit back-to-back 3-pointers which gave a seemingly insurmountable lead at 57-44 with 4:41 remaining.
But then the Stags showed what Frager has seen in practice and their characteristic attitude over the last week. They didn't quit.
Fairfield went on an 8-0 run which was capped by the fourth 3-pointer on the night by Schatzlein to claw the Stags back at 57-52.
Schatzlein continued to hit key shots after nailing her fifth trey of the night to keep the Stags down five with under one minute to go. Quinnipiac would sink four free throws to ice the victory.
The Stags had three players in double figures with Cooper (16), Schatzlein (15), and Casey Smith (12, 10 in the second half). Schatzlein is now up to 998 career points and with her next basket will become the 28th Stag to reach the 1000 point plateau.
Lizzy Ball orchestrated the offense with 10 assists, six points, and five rebounds. Ball once again did this all with just one turnover (while the rest of the team combined for seven assists and 20 turnovers).
Despite scoring 64 points, Quinnipiac had just one player in double figures with last year's MAAC Sixth Player of the Year, Napolitano. The Bobcats scored 32 points off the bench while Fairfield tallied just two.
“[These next few games] are extremely important,” Frager said. “We can't afford to have any no-show performances from this point on. We haven't left ourselves with a margin for error going forward…Really every single game we play for the rest of the year is important. We need to do some damage over the next seven basketball games.”
The Stags will stay home, but not at Alumni Hall. Fairfield will have less than 40 hours to rest until they take on Canisius at the Webster Bank Arena on Sunday at 1pm. That game, which is the opener of a double header with the men's squad, will be aired on SNY and ESPN3.
