ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – After a long and challenging calendar year, the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team find themselves in the same exact scenario they did a year ago: the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Semifinals. This time, however, the Stags will actually have the opportunity to play for a spot in the Championship Game after earning a 51-40 win over fifth-seeded Manhattan in the MAAC Quarterfinals.
 
"We've been stressing how proud we are of this team and told them to just go out and enjoy the moment," Head Coach Joe Frager said. "We knew there would be nerves and excitement but we're here to do a job so let' s do it and enjoy the experience."
 
"It means so much," All-MAAC First Team member Lou Lopez-Senechal said. "We've been wanting to be here since last March so it's awesome. We're really motivated, we've been waiting for this game for so long and practicing so hard for it. It feels so good right now."
 
The Stags relied on their foundation from the regular season: their zone defense. The Stags held the Jaspers to just 25 percent shooting and a 13 percent clip from deep. That mark included limiting the Jaspers to just five field goals in the first half, as they took control of the game, leading for nearly 37 minutes.
 
That stingy zone defense dominated the first quarter and set the theme for the game. After Emily LaPointe opened the game with a 3-pointer for Manhattan 17 seconds into the game, the Stags would not allow another Manhattan field goal for the rest of the quarter.
 
In total, the Jaspers missed 16-straight shots and had four turnovers. It was the second time in the last three games that the Stags had allowed just one field goal in the first quarter (Monmouth).
 
The Stags would score the next eight points of the game to take an 8-3 lead and two 3-pointers by Lopez-Senechal. After a little bit of a scoring drought, the Stags would end the period on a 5-0 run with 3-pointers by Sam Lewis and a layup by Rachel Hakes to grab a 13-6 advantage at the end of the quarter.
 
Manhattan would snap their scoring drought in the first possession of the second quarter, but the Stags got even hotter. Lewis drilled two 3-pointers and Katie Armstrong hit a short hook shot as the Stags led by as many 15 in the half.
 
The Stags' zone defense gave Manhattan more problems to start the second half as Fairfield did not allow a field goal for over six minutes. The first Jasper bucket came on a Courtney Warley layup that was counted despite an offensive foul called before the whistle.
 
Fairfield would answer back after Manhattan cut the Fairfield lead to eight. Back-to-back buckets by Lewis and Lopez-Senechal gave the Stags more breathing room.
 
The Stags would maintain a double-digit lead until the fourth quarter as the Jaspers were able to net four-straight points to come within seven at 34-27.
 
That would be the closest the Jaspers would come as the Stags hit big shots down the stretch, including a 3-pointer by Lopez-Senechal to regain the double-digit advantage.
 
Lopez-Senechal led all scorers with 21 points, her seventh game this season that she has eclipsed the 20-point plateau. Combined with Lewis' 11 points, the duo netted 32 of the teams 51 points.
 
As she has been all season long, Armstrong was the Fairfield leader on the boards, finishing with a game-high 11 rebounds, her fourth double-digit rebounding game of the season. All of this coming against the Jaspers' All-MAAC First Team honoree Courtney Warley who was limited to eight rebounds, two shy of her conference leading 10.6 during the season.
 
Ironically, the Stags have advanced to the MAAC Semifinals and will take on Marist, the same matchup that was scheduled for last season's tournament, before being canceled due to the CoVid-19 pandemic. This is the 24th time that the Stags have advanced to the MAAC Semifinals in program history. The two squads will play their long awaited matchup on Friday afternoon at 11am.