PISCATAWAY, N.J. – If there was still a statement to be made, the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team punctuated that statement in a B1G way. The Stags defeated Big Ten member Rutgers 78-54, representing their first-ever win over the Scarlet Knights and their third victory in program history against current teams in the Big Ten.
"I'm proud of how our team came to compete," Head Coach
Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "We responded to a lot of things we felt we could do better against Vanderbilt. We paid attention to detail in rebounding and keeping the ball out of the paint. We out-rebounded them so that was a huge step for us. We took care of the basketball, a lot of things we tried to show intential growth in. We had a lot of people step up through the course of the game."
Eight different Stags got into the scoring column with four student-athletes reaching double figures.
Janelle Brown and
Emina Selimovic tied for the team lead with 14 points apiece while
Kaety L'Amoreaux recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
The Stags, who entered the contest second in the country in made 3-pointers, swished through eight in the first quarter to open up a 20-point lead after the first 10 minutes.
Fairfield hit four-straight shots from behind the arc to grab their first lead of the night 14-9.
Kendall McGruder, who earned her first start with the Stags, was at the forefront of that offensive barrage, hitting three-straight long-range shots. Fairfield would end the quarter by making three-straight 3-pointers, capped by a
Nicole Gallagher trifecta at the very end of the period.
In total, Fairfield connected on eight of their 11 3-point shots in the first quarter.
Fairfield would hold a double-digit lead for the rest of the game, raising their lead to as many as 27 in the final two minutes.
The Stags shot 45 percent in the game and out-rebounded Rutgers 37-33, the first time this season that Rutgers has been out-rebounded by an opponent.
Fairfield dished out 22 assists, led by Brown's six dimes.
The win was Fairfield's third-ever win against a Big Ten squad and their first in 39 years after defeating Indiana in 1984.
"It solidifies what we know this team can be," Coach Thibaut-DuDonis said. "We know this team can be really special but we know we have to keep getting better. There is a million things we know we can continue to improve on but we know the sky is the limit for this team."
Fairfield will be back in action on Sunday afternoon when they visit Central Connecticut State for their fourth-straight road game. Tip-off is at 1pm.
