FAIRFIELD, Conn. – For the second time in a week, the Fairfield University women's basketball team will make their way to upstate New York and it's Capital Region for a contest in the city of Albany. This time, the Stags will take on a non-conference foe in five-time defending America East champion UAlbany for a match scheduled for Tuesday at 7pm on ESPN3.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Stags are coming off arguably their best all-around team effort of the season and were rewarded with their first MAAC win of the season as they took down the reigning MAAC champions Iona 68-59 on the George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. The amount of heart and energy that showed in this victory was encouraging from a Fairfield's fan perspective. The team just did everything they had to do to win. In the beginning they intensified a defensive stronghold that limited Iona to just 17 first half points, the fewest they've had in a half since a loss to Rutgers last season. In those first 20 minutes, the Gaels hit just six of their 29 attempts and shot at a .207 clip. When the defending champions made their run, the Stags answered. Fairfield scored 43 points in the second half, by far their most in any half this season and recorded a .630 shooting percentage, their highest in a half since November 21, 2015 against Sacred Heart. Three Stags reached double figures led by Casey Smith's season-high 21 points, 19 of those coming in the second half. Kelsey Carey recorded her eighth-straight game in double figures with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to finish her second career double-double.
CAREY-ING ON: Kelsey Carey is the only Stag to have recorded double digits in scoring in all eight games this season. It is currently the longest streak for a Stag with 10 or more points since Katie Cizynski did so in 24-straight games to end the 2013-14 campaign. In terms of beginning a season, it is the longest such streak since current assistant coach Stephanie Geehan recorded double figures in the first 11 games of the 2009-10 season.
THE GREAT DANES SCOUTING REPORT: For the last five years, the Albany Great Danes have gone dancing after winning the America East championship. But for the first time since that incredible streak started, Albany has had some transition. The Great Danes are led by first year Head Coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee, who came to Albany after three years as the head coach at Pikeville in Kentucky. She replaces three-time America East Coach of the Year Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who accepted the head job at Central Florida this past year. Albany also graduated All-American and three-time conference Player of the Year Shereesha Richards. This year's team is already battle tested, competing in three overtime games in their past four outings. Imani Tate, who was their leading returning scorer has picked where she left off and leads the team by scoring 20.4 points per game out of the 61.5 that the team averages.
UP NEXT: The Stags will take their first trip to the city of Philadelphia, Pa., when they take on La Salle on Saturday at 1pm.
