FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will wrap-up their 2018-19 non-conference slate when they travel to the Entertainment Capital of the World: Las Vegas, Nev., for two games in the South Point Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. The Stags will be facing Furman for the first time in school history and will also take on UIC, in a rematch of the 2010 WBI Semifinals. Both contests are scheduled for a 3pm EST tip-off.
This will be Fairfield's first trip to Las Vegas in over a decade as they last appeared in the 1996-97 season, falling to Minnesota and UNLV.
The Stags are coming off a 59-46 loss at Dartmouth last Sunday.
Eden Nibbelink came off the bench and enjoyed her best game as a Stag with a career-high 11 points. The sophomore also set personal bests in field goals made (four) and 3-pointers (three) as she went 3-for-6 from deep.
Fairfield had their best offensive success towards the end of the first half as they ended the period on a 7-0 run. The Stags hit eight of 10 shots spanning into the third quarter, but Dartmouth was even hotter on the offensive side. The Big Green missed just five shots in the first half, with a 13-for-18 clip.
Casey Foley hit two 3-pointers bringing her career mark to 81. She is now tied with Sue Bly for 15th on the program's all-time list and trails Lauren Groom '09 by three long range shots. Foley also tallied her 132nd career steal in the loss at Dartmouth ranking her 20th in program history. She needs two more to tie Megan Light '02 who is next on the list.
The Furman Paladins have won four of their last five contests with their only setbacks coming to Mississippi State and Georgia over the last three weeks. Le'Jzae Davidson is the team's leading scorer with 16.3 points per game, which includes a team best 2.8 3-pointers per contest. Davidson has connected on 28 of the team's 47 long range shots this season. Davidson and Celena Taborn highlighted the preseason accolades for the Paladins, who were picked third in the SoCon. Taborn led the league with a .612 field goal percentage last season and has hit 67 percent of her shots this year.
The UIC Flames will hold a 2-6 record before their game against UCLA on Wednesday. The Flames have defeated Valparaiso and Evansville this season. Brittany Byrd and Taylor Toney are the two leading scorers on the team, averaging 15.3 points and 10.6 points respectively. The duo also are the leaders on the glass, hauling in over 6.0 rebounds per game. Byrd is the leader from the outside, connecting on 14 long range shots. Byrd was chosen to the Horizon League Preseason Second Team after leading the Flames in scoring for the second-straight season. Tony was also gained Second Team honors after tallying 412 points on 150 made field goals.
The Stags will have a week-long break for the holiday season and will next take the court on January 3, 2019 when they travel to Quinnipiac at 7pm.
