Box Score FAIRFIELD, Conn. – What a difference one month can make. After losing to the Peacocks for the first time since 2010 back in January, the Stags have re-energized their season and their recent nine-game success culminated tonight as the Stags tallied season-highs in basically every offensive category leading to a dominant 76-49 victory over Saint Peter's in their annual Play 4 Kay game. The win marked the sixth-straight victory for the Stags and their eighth triumph in their last nine outings.
“I think from that time [the loss to Saint Peter's] on everyone recommitted to paying attention to detail,” Head Coach Joe Frager said. “They are really buying in to what we're trying to teach them offensively and defensively. They are also realizing in order for this group the way it's constituted to be successful, we really need to try and be a detail oriented group.”
“I think mentally we've changed a lot [in the last nine games],” Casey Smith, who had a game-high 21 points, said. “We've become tougher and we realize that no team is going to roll over and let us win and we have to work for every single win we get.”
For the first five minutes of the game, not many fans would have thought this would have turned into the best offensive game in the Stags' (14-10, 9-6 MAAC) season. Fairfield misfired on their first six shots of the game and did not record a field goal until a Kristin Schatzlein layup tied the score at 2-2 with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
The Stags' defense stepped up during the first frame, holding Saint Peter's (4-20, 2-13 MAAC) to just four first quarter points, their best defensive frame in the season.
But the story was the offense. After their first bucket, the Stags shot a sizzling 61 percent for the rest of the first half, led by 13 points from Smith and 10 points by Samantha Cooper, who was also one rebound shy of a first half double-double. At one point in the second quarter, the Stags connected on seven-straight shots as they went on a 16-2 run in just over 3:30.
The Stags were also just one single point shy of tying their largest first half output this season.
“I think we're just getting comfortable,” Coach Frager said. “For lack of a better word. It's not like we were getting bad shots at the beginning of the game, they just weren't going in. We're just trying to stay aggressive, whether we are in a half-court or we have a chance to get up and down the floor. They're starting to gain a little bit more confidence in themselves as individuals but more importantly collectively as a team.”
“It's really neat when everyone is playing well and everyone is making their shots, it makes it that much more fun,” Cooper said. “When everyone is hitting, there's nothing better.”
The Stags would extend their lead to as many as 32 points on a third quarter buzzer beater by Cooper, making the score 64-32.
That's when the bench saw valuable minutes, and they took advantage. The Stags tallied 20 bench points, the most since December 20 against IPFW. In total, all 14 players entered the game for the Stags, with 10 different players netting a point. Kristine Miller led the bench for the ninth-straight game as she tallied six points, while Casey Foley followed her with five points.
The Stags are now 7-1 this year when the bench tallied at least 15 points.
In the game, the Stags shot 52 percent, led by Smith's 9-for-14 performance as she racked up a season-high 21 points. Cooper recorded her sixth-career double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 boards. Lizzy Ball, who entered tonight's game ranked 15th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio had nine dishes with just one miscue. Schatzlein tallied two assists and no turnovers in her 28 minutes of work. Over the last four games, she has recorded 18-straight assists without a turnover, spanning 161 minutes.
For the Peacocks, Talah Hughes led the team with a perfect 6-for-6 shooting and a team-high 14 points. It is the fourth-straight game when they Stags have not allowed a scorer over 14 points.
The Stags, who have scored 60-points in five-straight games for the first time since 2009, will now try and clinch their ninth-straight MAAC winning season under Frager when they take on the Monmouth Hawks in the regular season home finale on Sunday (Valentine's Day) at 2pm. Before the contest, the two-member Class of 2016 will be honored during the Senior Day festivities.
