ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The best thing about March is to watch the passion and energy of seniors as they play to keep their basketball career alive. That leadership was shown in full force as graduate student Rachel Hakes erupted for a career-high 26 points to lead the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team to a 69-56 victory over eighth-seeded Iona to advance to the MAAC Semifinals on Tuesday.
 
"March definitely hits different," Hakes said. "We've had the same crew for four years, we're a senior laden team and we just one to put one in the books."
 
"She was special today," Head Coach Joe Frager said. "The thing about her is that her demeanor doesn't change although she was pretty fired up after a couple of those threes which is great to see. They're starting to grasp that we won a regular season championship playing a certain way and now that we're here we can't deviate from who we are."
 
The Stags had to overcome some early adversity as the MAAC Player of the Year Lou Lopez-Senechal was called for two early fouls, limiting her to just four minutes in the first half.
 
Her absence was shown in the second quarter as the Stags tallied just five points on 1-for-13 shooting. Fairfield, who led by 12 in the opening seconds of the quarter went into halftime with a slim three-point lead at 24-21.
 
Hakes tallied three of those five points on a traditional 3-point play which snapped a six-minute scoring drought for the Stags.
 
Lopez-Senechal would return from her first half foul trouble with a vengeance in the third quarter, connecting on her first shot just nine seconds into the period. The MAAC's leading scorer would tally the first five points for the Stags.
 
"It definitely was frustrating for me but I use it as motivation," Lopez-Senechal said. "I know my teammates are going to be there to trust me and I just tried to do what I can do on the court when I came back. Just keep the same energy."
 
Hakes would connect on her second 3-pointer of the game to increase the Fairfield lead to nine at 32-23.
 
Iona would match the Stags shot-for-shot for the rest of the quarter, with Hakes once again coming up clutch by draining back-to-back 3-pointers in the final two minutes. The Stags would go into the final quarter with a seven-point advantage.
 
The Gaels would start the quarter on a 7-0 run which spanned the first three minutes, tying the game at 46-46 at the 5:46 mark. The senior leadership for Fairfield, however, would help weather the storm by connecting on some big baskets. The MAAC Sixth Player of the Year, Sam Lewis would hit a pull up jumper to stop the run and Lopez-Senechal would follow with a big 3-pointer.
 
The Stags would actually go on a 15-3 run to help increase their lead to 12 by the 3:01 mark, fittingly on a Hakes basket.
 
Hakes would also drain a personal best four 3-pointers, including going 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the second half.
 
Behind Hakes, Lopez-Senechal tallied 18 points with 16 of those coming in the second half. Lewis also finished in double figures with 12. Hakes also led the team with five assists while grabbing seven rebounds. Andrea Hernangomez was the Stags' leader on the board with 10 caroms.
 
The Stags shot an incredible 20-for-21 from the free throw line, hitting 95 percent of their attempts.
 
The Stags have advanced to the MAAC Semifinals for the third-straight season and will face the winner of No. 4 Niagara and No. 5 Siena on Friday at 11am.