Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Casey Smith and Samantha Cooper both tallied a season-high 16 points but it was not enough as Manhattan, probably the most improved team in the MAAC, was able to take a 70-55 victory at Alumni Hall in front of 1,432 fans in Fairfield's Kids' Day Out. The Stags rebounded from their loss against Niagara and shot 41 percent from the floor, but were done in by the Jaspers' 23-for-25 shooting at the free throw line.
“I think the biggest thing about this team right now is that they want to do well and when we struggle to knock shots down, I think our decision making starts to go a little,” Head Coach Joe Frager said. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes with the basketball and turning the ball over 18 times, that's not Fairfield women's basketball. In order for us to be successful, we have to take better care of the ball.”
Credit Manhattan (6-7, 3-1 MAAC) for the majority of those turnovers as the Jaspers came in 14th in the country forcing nearly 22 turnovers per game.
But in the first 10 minutes, the Stags (6-8, 1-4 MAAC) were able to thread through the patent 1-3-1 Jasper defense. Fairfield raced out to a 20-point first quarter with Smith tallying nine points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that put the 550 kids on their feet.
“I thought we played well in the first quarter, both offensively and defensively,” Coach Frager said. “We were doing a really nice job sticking to our defensive game plan. We were guarding shooters a certain way, guarding drivers another way, and trying to handle low post with a little extra attention. I thought we did a good job with that.”
The defensive intensity continued in the second quarter, as Manhattan scored just five points in the first five minutes of the frame. However, the Stags went cold shooting, hitting just one of their first 12 shots and scored seven points in the quarter. Manhattan was able to take the five-point lead at the half.
The Stags fought back to take back the lead twice in the third quarter, highlighted by a 3-point plays by Cooper and Lizzy Ball and a jumper by Kristin Schatzlein. Nyasha Irizarry would hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Jaspers to give the visiting side a 44-42 lead with 2:36 left in the third quarter and the Stags would not take the lead again.
Fairfield tried to get back into the game but the Jaspers connected on all 12 of their free throws in the fourth quarter.
Cooper and Smith led the Stags with 16 points apiece. Smith scored her 500th career point in the contest. Kristine Miller tallied 10 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting effort. Cooper led the team with eight boards while Lizzy Ball paced the team with five assists.
Irizarry had a game and career-high 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting from behind the arc. Amani Tatum, a point guard transfer from James Madison, chipped in 16 points and had a game-high four steals.
“The easiest thing to do right now when you're scuffling like this is to say 'okay we need to change this, we need to change that' a complete overhaul of what we do offensively and defensively is not needed,” Frager said. “What we need to do is tighten some things up and do them the way we are capable of doing them…Three games on the road is a test of their mental toughness. If you want to be a good basketball team you need to be able to compete on the road, and in order to do that we need to do a better job at keeping control of the ball, we have to rebound the ball, and we need to knock down open shots.”
The Stags start a three-game road trip against Saint Peter's on Sunday at 2pm.
