FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Over 1,500 local school kids will have the field trip of a lifetime as they will pack the George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall to watch the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team compete in their second conference game of the season, hosting Monmouth on Thursday at 11am. The school kids will be from surrounding elementary school kids in the area as the program celebrates the fifth-annual Kids' Day Out game.
 
The excited school kids will get to watch the MAAC's top-ranked scoring defense as the Stags cemented that position early in the year with a dominating 65-35 victory at Siena to open up their conference slate. The Stags held Siena to just 35 points, 16 fewer than any opponent this season. The 35 points is the fewest by any Fairfield opponents since the Stags defeated Manhattan 43-26 at home on Feb. 11, 2015. It also marked the 18th time under Head Coach Joe Frager where the Stags have held an opponent under 40 points.
 
The Stags also limited the Saints to just eight 2-point field goals. That is the fewest since Marist tallied only eight shots inside the arc against the Stags in the MAAC Tournament on March 14, 2017.
 
Fairfield was able to control the game by crashing the boards and protecting the ball. Fairfield tallied a season-high 45 rebounds and out-rebounded the Saints by 19, the first time that Fairfield has out-rebounded an opponent this season. Fairfield, who enters play with the fewest total turnovers in the nation, surrendered just 10 against the Saints while forcing 18. Fairfield scored 22 points off of turnovers compared to just two for Siena.
 
On the offensive side of the ball, the Stags dished out a season-high 19 assists while tying a season-best with 26 field goals. Lou Lopez-Senechal led the Stags with 17 points, the 21st time in her young career she has reached double figures. Lopez-Senechal is just the third Stag in the Division I era to reach double figures at least 21 times over her first 32 games and the first since Lisa Mikelic during the 1988-89 season. Katrina Fields was the first Stag as she tallied double figures 21 times during her rookie season of 1981. Both Fields and Mikelic are members of the Fairfield University Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
Monmouth will already be playing in their fourth MAAC game after starting the conference slate with a win over Manhattan followed by losses to Marist and Canisius.
 
As a team, Monmouth averages 51.2 points per game while surrendering 61.3. However, Monmouth is averaging 68 points over their last two MAAC games, which includes 18 3-pointers made during that span. Twelve of those long range shots came in the road loss to Marist as the squad shot nearly 50 percent from deep in that contest.
 
Preseason All-MAAC selection Sierra Green is the lone Hawk to average double figures as she tallies 11.8 points per contest while leading the team with 31 3-pointers. Alexa Middleton and Lucy Thomas controls the paint with 7.1 and 6.8 rebounds, respectively. That duo has helped the Hawks average 36.2 boards per contest, the fifth best number in the MAAC.
 
The Stags will have a quick turnaround before hosting the MAAC's top-ranked offense in Saint Peter's on Saturday at 2pm at the George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall.