FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team suffered their first Alumni Hall defeat of the season as the #20/22 Villanova Wildcats pulled away in the third quarter in an eventual 73-44 decision. The loss snaps Fairfield's mini two-game winning streak while Villanova remains one of the handful of unbeaten teams in the country with their 8-0 record.
 
The Stags (3-6) hung around with the nationally-ranked side throughout the first quarter, leading for seven minutes during the first period. The Stags gained their largest advantage at 10-5 when Kendra Landy hit a jumper at the 3:15 to extend the Fairfield led to 10-5. The Wildcats (8-0) would regroup and gain the lead two minutes later and end the quarter on an 11-5 run.
 
Fairfield's defense went toe-to-toe against the bigger Wildcats, holding Villanova to just five points through the first seven minutes of the game. The difference maker for the unbeaten Wildcats was Adrianna Hahn, who scored 14 of the team's 16 points in the first quarter by hitting all four of her 3-point attempts. Aside from Hahn's 5-for-6 shooting in the opening quarter, the Stags held the rest of the Wildcats to a 1-for-12 shooting percentage with Alex Louin netting the only other basket.
 
Hahn's first quarter shooting performance allowed the rest of the Wildcats to find their footing, which they did by scoring 21 points in the second quarter. The Stags still hung around by not allowing Villanova to extend their lead to an unsurmountable amount. Sam Kramer's lay-up with 15 seconds left cut the Wildcat lead to 10 at 37-27 going into the half.
 
The nation's third ranked defense took over from that point, however, holding the Stags to 17 second half points including four in the third quarter for the victory.
 
The Stags out-rebounded the Wildcats 45-41 including grabbing a season-high 18 offensive rebounds. However, Fairfield could only record 14 second chance points from those opportunities. Khadidiatou Diouf led the battle of the boards with seven offensive rebounds accounting for a career-high 11 overall. Samantha Cooper tied her for the game-high with 11 boards.
 
Fairfield controlled the ball for the second-straight game by posting a season-low five turnovers against the Wildcats.
 
On the offensive side, Kramer led the Stags with 11 points while Hahn recorded a game-high 21 and Bridget Herlihy notched 19 on 7-for-10 shooting.
 
The Stags are on the road for the rest of the 2017 calendar year, starting with a road game at Rhode Island on Monday at 7pm.