FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Two days after taking on a first place team in the MAAC in Marist, the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will challenge another foe who is just a half a game out of the top spot. The Stags will host the Rider Broncs on Thursday at 7pm on the George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall. Fairfield will next travel to Manhattan in their final road game before opening up the final home series ever at Alumni Hall.
 
The Stags are coming off a 75-45 setback at league-leading Marist where they struggled on both sides of the ball. After scoring the first five points of the game, the Stags would go scoreless over the final 6:42 of the first quarter and Marist took full advantage with a 15-0 run to end the period. The Stags would try and fight back in the second half but Marist's offense was even hotter as they hit nine-straight shots in the third quarter to double up their lead at 58-26.
 
Lou Lopez-Senechal led the Stags with 16 points and a 4-for-6 showing from long range. Lopez-Senechal is now shooting 48 percent (23-for-48) from deep over her last eight games.
 
Fairfield struggled on the boards as they were out-rebounded 47-17 in the contest.
 
Fairfield dropped from their top spot in the MAAC in scoring defense and now ranks second in the MAAC (58.8) and third in field goal percentage defense (.394).
 
The Stags also enter the contest second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.03, the 64th best number in the country. Sam Kramer leads the Stags in that category at 2.31, the best in the MAAC and the 26th in the nation.
 
Rider enters the game on a four-game winning streak, after snapping their program record 14-game win streak against Saint Peter's earlier in the month.
 
While Rider's high powered offense gets most of the attention, their defense is amongst the league's stingiest. They limit their opponents to a .336 shooting percentage, nearly four percent lower than any other MAAC team. In conference games, the Broncs are allowing just 54.5 points per game, the best in the MAAC.
 
The nation's leading scorer Stella Johnson is the focal point of the offense with 24.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. Amari Johnson is the leader on the boards with a MAAC best 10.8 rebounds per game.
 
Fairfield will next travel to Manhattan in their final road game before opening up the final home series ever at Alumni Hall.