FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will embark on their first road trip of the season and it will be to a destination they have never been before. The Stags will travel to William & Mary for the first-ever matchup between the two schools on Tuesday at 7pm. In fact, this is the first game for the Stags in the state of Virginia since 2007, when they took on Richmond.
 
There were many bright spots in the season opener for the Stags, who scored 67 points but fell to previously mentioned Richmond 72-67. In the game, Casey Foley set career-highs with 14 points and three 3-pointers made while Khadidiatou Diouf tied her personal best with 14 as well. Sam Kramer chipped in 11, the second game of her career where she reached double figures. The trio combined for 39 points, which was 17 percent of the scoring the three totaled all of last season.
 
All three, however, were behind Samantha Cooper who led all players in points (18) and rebounds (career-high tying 16) in recording her 25th career double-double. The 16 rebounds was the most since Cooper grabbed 16 against Quinnipiac, which was also at the Webster Bank Arena.
 
The scoring helped the Stags take a nine-point lead in the second quarter and erase a seven-point deficit in the four period. However, the Stags could not withstand 24 turnovers, including eight in the final seven minutes of the first half which allowed the Spiders to end the half on a 12-2 run and take a one point lead into the locker room.
 
The returning players accounted for all but two points in the opener, as the Stags showed a little new brand of up-tempo basketball that accounted for 25 three-point attempts, one more than they had in any game last season. Fairfield connected on eight of those opportunities, just one shy of last year's season-highs.
 
However, Richmond was also successful from behind the arc especially Kaylie Fee, who went 4-for-5 from long range. That percentage was the best that any opponent has had against the Stags with Maura Fitzpatrick's 4-for-6 showing the best from last year. The Stags were once again solid on the defensive side, leading the MAAC and finishing seventh in the nation with a .272 3-point field goal percentage defense.
 
William & Mary is also a team that can score the basketball, which was shown as they scored 83 points in a season opening win against Howard. The Tribe was led by junior Bianca Boggs who recorded her second career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Tribe is coming off one of the best seasons in school history after tying a program record with 20 victories. The league voted the Tribe to finish third in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Preseason Poll with senior Abby Rendle earning a spot on the CAA Preseason Second Team. Rendle is the team's leading returning scorer with 9.3 points per game last year but her true presence comes on the defensive side as she set a school record with 101 blocked shots, a number that was seventh in the nation.
 
Fairfield will stay on the road when they make their first of two trips to Boston, Mass., when they take on Northeastern on Friday night at 7pm.