FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will return home to the Leo D. Mahoney Arena and compete in their first home game of the 2023 calendar year when they host the Manhattan Jaspers in a rematch of last year's MAAC Championship game. The two teams will take the court on Saturday afternoon with tip-off at 2pm.
The Stags will look to rebound as they are coming off their first MAAC loss of the season and their first in 348 days as they fell to the Siena Saints 61-46 on the road. The turning point of the game came in the second quarter as Siena took advantage of Fairfield's offensive struggles to build a 13-0 run and a 16-1 stretch to end the first half.
Fairfield fought back in the third quarter and cut the deficit to just four, but would not be able to come any closer.
Janelle Brown led the Stags in points for the second-straight game as she finished with 16. Over the three games, Brown is averaging 15.7 points.
Callie Cavanaugh snapped her streak of eight-straight games in double figures as she tallied eight in the setback. The effort brought her career total to 999 points as she will be appearing in her 121st career game. Cavanaugh still leads the MAAC with 17.2 points per game, a number that ranks 70th in the country.
Despite the setback, the Stags still brought the defensive energy by forcing 27 Siena turnovers, the seventh time this season they have forced 20 or more miscues. Entering the game, the Stags lead the MAAC and ranks 39th in the country with 20.2 turnovers forced per game.
The game between the Stags and the Jaspers will be a rematch of last year's MAAC Championship game, a contest the Stags won 73-68. All-time the Stags are just 5-18 against teams in rematches of the MAAC Championship game from the previous season. Against teams they beat in the title game, the Stags are 2-6 the next season.
The Jaspers are also coming off a conference loss in their last game as they fell to Marist 56-43 on the road. The MAAC Preseason Player of the Year, Dee Dee Davis is the team's leader in almost every category, leading the team in: points per game (14.5), rebounds per game (8.3), assists (39), and steals (27).
Fairfield will stay in their home arena when they welcome over 2,000 local area kids in the annual "Kids Day Out" contest and host Niagara on Thursday at 11am.
