FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The three-game winning streak for the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team is over, but the Stags did not let it go without a fight. The Stags held a fourth quarter lead against league-leading Quinnipiac, but the Bobcats out-scored Fairfield 17-7 in that final quarter to take a 48-40 decision over the Stags at Alumni Hall.
 
"This was an outstanding effort by our women today," Head Coach Joe Frager said. "We battled extremely hard and I think we did a nice job defensively. They (Quinnipiac) turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter and it made it difficult. I think we showed we're a better basketball team now that we were earlier in the year and I think we have a hell of a lot of fight in us."
 
The Stags showed that fight all game long, holding Quinnipiac to their lowest point total (48) and winning margin (eight) than any conference game this season. Quinnipiac has now won 45-straight games against MAAC teams, including all 14 this season.
 
Fairfield became the first MAAC team to bring a lead against Quinnipiac into the fourth quarter after Katie Armstrong hit a layup to give Fairfield a 33-31 advantage in the final minute of the third period.
 
The Stags would not hit a field goal until midway through the fourth quarter when Casey Foley drove inside for a layup to break the scoring skid. However, the Bobcats were able to build up a 6-1 run before that bucket and they would not give up that lead.
 
Fairfield did get within a point on two separate occasions following two free throws from Lou Lopez-Senechal and an Armstrong layup with just two minutes left.
 
Neither side would hit a field goal the rest of the way, but Quinnipiac was able to hit seven of their eight final free throws to hang on for the 48-40 decision.
 
The Stags kept the game manageable all game long, never trailing by double digits and by just four points going into halftime.
 
Fairfield ended the third quarter on a mini 9-3 run starting with a Lopez-Senechal 3-pointer and were able to tie the game on a fast break layup by Foley which was started by an Armstrong steal.
 
The Fairfield defense held limited the Bobcats to a .286 shooting percentage as Quinnipiac also connected on just two of their 21 attempts from behind the 3-point arc.
 
On the offensive front, the Stags were led by Lopez-Senechal who netted 15 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Foley was the other Stag in double figures finishing with 13.
 
Molly Bauer also provided the Stags with 12 good minutes off the bench, picking up one of three blocks for the Stags.
 
Fairfield, however, lost the battle of the boards as Quinnipiac hauled in 15 offensive rebounds.
 
The Stags will have a short turnaround when they travel to Marist for a 7pm tip-off on Tuesday night.