ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The members of the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team woke up every morning visualizing themselves holding the MAAC Championship trophy. That image is no longer a dream, but a reality. The Stags came out on top in an exciting Championship Game, 73-68 against the third-seeded Manhattan Jaspers to claim the 2022 MAAC Championship, their first since 1998 and the fourth in program history. Fairfield has punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in the final season of Head Coach Joe Frager.
 
"We're over the moon," Rachel Hakes said. "I've woken up every day this season and dreamed of myself literally holding the MAAC trophy above my head. Everyday just visualization."
 
"Visualization does work," Lou Lopez-Senechal said. "I've been thinking about that night and day and here I am. It's just such a great feeling. When you believe and think of something every day and see other people doing it and you think you can also achieve it, that pushes you every time. To have a great group around you to achieve that goal is very important."
 
Lopez-Senechal was named the Championship's Most Valuable Player as she led the team with 24 points. Rachel Hakes and Sydney Lowery were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Lowery followed in scoring with 18 points including a perfect 4-for-4 from long range.
 
Fairfield got off to a slow start, falling behind by nine points at the end of the first quarter. The Stags were able to cut that deficit to one possession on several occasions, but would ultimately head to the locker room trailing by five at 31-26.
 
The Stags, who averaged 46 second half points in the tournament, tied their season-high with 47 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
It took the Stags two minutes to make up the five-point halftime deficit and tie the game on a Lopez-Senechal 3-pointer. The two teams would trade baskets and enter the fourth quarter deadlocked at 47-47.
 
That's when the experience of the Stags took over as they exploded for the first eight points of the quarter capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Lowery and Lopez-Senechal. The Stags would open that lead to as many as 11 on another Lowery 3-pointer at the 3:29 mark to put the score at 62-51.
 
Manhattan's Dee Dee Davis continued to shine and single handedly kept the Jaspers alive. She scored the team's final 17 points including four 3-pointers in the final three minutes. She converted a four-point play with six seconds to put the game back in one possession in the final ticks. Sam Lewis would drain two crucial free throws to seal the game and set off the celebration.
 
"I'm so proud of these kids," Coach Frager said. "I've said from the beginning that I just wanted this for them. Whether we won today or didn't, I couldn't be disappointed with how they played this season. The fact that they were able to come out the way they did shows great caliber. To do what we do is a lot of fun, it's a lot of stress at times, great staff, great group of young women and we got it done."
 
Hakes recorded her second-straight double-digit assist game with 11, putting her career total to 414, the most by any Stag since 2009.
 
Lopez-Senechal added 24 points to her season total to bring her 587, the third highest in program history. Her career total sits at 1581, the seventh best in school history.
 
The starting five accounted for 67 of the team's 73 points with Callie Cavanaugh adding nine and Andrea Hernangomez chipped in eight, including the go-ahead basket. Lewis also accounted for seven crucial points.
 
Fairfield will now await their next opponent in the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance in the Big Dance since 2001.