NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Even with a loss, the Stags are opening up some eyes. The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team came a shot away from upsetting SEC Vanderbilt on their home floor after fighting back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit, but suffered their first loss of the season 73-70 to the Commodores. Three Stags tallied double-figures in the setback led by freshmen
Kaety L'Amoreaux and
Meghan Andersen who finished with 18 and 15 points, respectively.
"I'm proud of the fight in our team," Head Coach
Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "I thought they responded well to a lot of adversity, whether it was foul trouble, offensive rebounds, or turnovers, they didn't blink. They did a great job responding and staying the course and staying consistent which allowed us to score down the stretch in the fourth."
The Stags hung tough all game long, but found themselves trailing by 13 at the 5:45 mark before making their comeback. Fairfield would score the next 10 points of the game highlighted by a
Kendall McGruder 3-pointer that cut the deficit to single digits. Andersen would cap the run with an 'and-1' slashing the deficit to one-possession.
Fairfield had another run in the final two minutes after back-to-back 3-pointers by Andersen and
Nicole Gallagher made the score 71-70 with one-minute to go.
The Stags would force a turnover with 20 seconds to go, giving them the ball and potential final shot looking for the victory. The Stags got their look with a 3-pointer at the top of the key, but the shot was off line and the Commodores grabbed the rebound.
For the third-straight game a pair of freshmen led the way in scoring with L'Amoreaux tallying a team-high 18 and Andersen dropping 15, eight coming in the final quarter.
Emina Selimovic rounded out the trio of double-digit scorers as she netted a season-high 10 points.
Izabela Nicolleti Leite orchestrated the offense with a career-high eight assists and just three turnovers against a highly-pressing SEC squad.
Fairfield will continue their five-game road trip against another Power Five squad when they travel to Rutgers on Monday at 7pm
