FAIRFIELD, Conn. – There's always a special feeling before a season opener where every player has the same dream, to win. The 2018-19 version of the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will take the court for the first time as a squad in their first step to have those dreams realized when they open up their campaign at Richmond on Friday afternoon at 2pm.
Every new season brings a new level of excitement, and the Stags will look for their youthful energy to carry them throughout the year, with nine of the 15 Stags being freshmen or sophomores. With the infusion of new talent, the Stags will look to rely on their upperclassmen to help guide the younger players during the long journey of the campaign.
At the top of that list will be the Stags' three co-captains in seniors
Khadidiatou Diouf,
Casey Foley and
Kendra Landy. Diouf was honored as one of the top-15 players in the conference entering the season after she was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team. Diouf was one of the major presences in the paint last season, averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds during her breakout junior campaign.
Foley, who recorded the most steals by a Stag in six years with her 59 last season, will once again be the leader on the defensive end. The senior tallied 22 of those steals during the final five games of the season as she looks to keep up the momentum.
Landy is one of the Stags' primary ballhandlers as she enters the season with 200 career assists, and finished sixth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio last season.
Junior guard
Sam Kramer will have the distinction of being Fairfield's leading returning scorer after pouring in 9.9 points per game last season. Kramer connected on 54 3-pointers last year, ranking third among returners in the conference.
Along with the addition of four freshmen, the Stags will also add transfer
Katie Armstrong in her first season of eligibility with the Stags. Armstrong sat out last season after transferring from Saint Joseph's after leading the Hawks' first year players in almost every offensive category during the 2016-17 season.
The Stags will travel to Richmond for the first time in 12 years, the site where
Joe Frager coached his first game as a Stag. During his tenure, the Stags have earned 11-straight winning seasons in the MAAC and are one of only 15 teams in the country to finish in the top-5 in their conference in each of the last 11 years.
Richmond is a similar squad to Fairfield after posting a 14-17 overall record and an 8-8 mark in the Atlantic-10. Like Fairfield, the Spiders graduated their leading scorer from last season in Micaela Parson, but do bring back her younger sister in sophomore Alex Parson who was named to the Preseason A-10 Third Team after averaging 10.3 points during her rookie campaign. The Spiders are also a young team with no seniors and six freshmen added to their roster.
The Spiders opened up their season on Tuesday night with a setback to Georgetown.
The Stags will return to more familiar surroundings as they play in their only game at the Webster Bank Arena this season when they host LIU Brooklyn on Tuesday, November 13 at 5pm.
