FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will host the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers on Thursday night at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena with tip-off at 7pm. The Stags are coming off a double-overtime victory over Rider which brought their conference record to 6-3, tying them with two other teams for third place in the MAAC standings.
The 64-61 double overtime win over Rider was the second-straight game where the Stags went into overtime, marking just the fifth time in program history that the Stags have played in two-straight overtime games. Fairfield has now played in four overtime contests this season, already tying for the most in program history and the first time since the 2013-14 season.
There were many heroes in the gritty win at Rider as the Stags came back from a six-point deficit with just 1:29 left in the first overtime period.
Callie Cavanaugh would hit two free throws and she would be followed by a big 3-pointer by
Lauren Beach to make it a one possession game. Izabela Nicoletti-Leite would cap the comeback with a game-tying 3-pointer with just 16 seconds left in the game.
The Stags would force the second overtime period as Beach came up big on the defensive end and drew a charge with eight ticks on the clock.
Janelle Brown took over the second extra frame as she tallied seven of her team-high 19 points, including the go-ahead jumper, in the extra period. Brown would lead the Stags in: points (19), rebounds (11), and assists (five). Brown would record her second career double-double and now ranks eighth in the MAAC with 6.7 rebounds per game.
After missing the game against Siena, Nicoletti-Leite would return to the Stags' lineup and also tally her second career double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
The Stags would force 20 turnovers against the Broncs, marking the tenth time this season they have forced at least 20 miscues. The Stags rank second in the MAAC and 34th nationally with 20.0 turnovers forced per game.
Cavanaugh reached double figures for the 16th time this season, and the 50th time in her career, as she chipped in 17 points at Rider. She enters the game as the MAAC leader in points per game at 17.2, a number that also ranks 69th in the country. She is also 75 points shy of becoming the 33rd Stag to score 1,000 points in a Fairfield uniform.
The Mount enters play with a 4-5 conference record, recently picking up a 61-42 win over Saint Peter's. Michaela Harrison leads the team with 13.8 points per game and is also averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers per contest. As a team, the Mountaineers are averaging 7.9 3-pointers per game.
The Stags will end the month of January with a home game against Canisius on Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
