FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University women's basketball team will play in their second and final game at the Webster Bank Arena on Thursday at 5pm as they welcome the MAAC leading Quinnipiac Bobcats. The 5pm contest will be the opening game of a Stags' doubleheader with the men's basketball squad taking on Niagara at 8pm. The event will also be broadcasted on ESPN3 as part of the MAAC Game of the Week.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The Stags are coming off one of their best all-around team wins of the season in a 66-63 home victory against Niagara. For the first time all year, the Stags had to find a way to win without their two leading scorers in Casey Smith and Kelsey Carey in the first half. The duo combined to play just 12 minutes in the first half with foul trouble. The team responded to the adversity with the bench stepping up. Kristine Miller scored eight-straight points, including two 'and-ones' in the span of 45 seconds. Khadidiatou Diouf added six points in the half, going 3-for-5 from the floor. Carey and Smith returned in the second half and combined to score 27 points in the final 20 minutes. Carey scored 18 of her team-high 20 points during the frame.
THE RACE TO 1,000: Kelsey Carey and Casey Smith are both tracking down the 1,000 point plateau, a number that has been reached 28 times in program history. In their entire careers, Carey (972) has tallied just six more points than Smith (966) coming into the game. Smith has reached this point total in just 80 games and her 12.1 scoring average is 14th in program history. Carey enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign after scoring just 32 points during her entire freshman season. Since her sophomore year, Carey is averaging 11.3 points. Carey is known as a pure scorer and is Staten Island's all-time leading high school scorer.
THE BOBCATS SCOUTING REPORT: Quinnipiac comes into the game dropping two of their last four but still hold their position as the top team in the MAAC with a 10-2 conference mark. One reason for the sudden lull in Quinnipiac's offense has come from behind the arc as the Bobcats shot a combined 8-for-41 (20 percent) in the losses to Monmouth and Iona. In the loss to the Gaels, Quinnipiac totaled just 16 field goals and a season low 44 points. This season, Quinnipiac has made their name on the defensive end as they check into the game logging 12 steals per game which is by far the top in the MAAC and ranks as one of the tops in the nation. One reason they are able to keep up the defensive intensity is the fact that they are the deepest team in the league with 11 players logging double digit minutes per game.
Quinnipiac is more than just a defensive minded team as they also support the league's best offense with 68.5 points per game. What is amazing about that number is that only one player on the roster averaged double digits in points, with Jen Fay checking in at 10.2 per game. The depth is shown with seven players averaging six or more points per game, the only team in the MAAC that has accomplished that feat.
UP NEXT: The Stags will conclude their longest home stand of the season when they welcome the Saint Peter's Peacocks to the George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall on Super Bowl Sunday at 2pm.
