NEW BRITIAN, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team netted 50 points in the second half, running past Central Connecticut State 78-52, in picking up their fourth win of the season.
Janelle Brown and
Meghan Andersen paced the team, tying for the team-high with 22 points with Andersen also hauling in a personal-best 12 rebounds.
"I'm glad we ended up with the win," Head Coach
Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "I think in the fourth quarter we got ourselves going defensively and that allowed us to play in transition like we like to. I didn't think it was our best defensive effort. They capitalized on our defensive errors and we obviously have to take a look at that. But a win is a win and I'd rather learn from a win."
The Stags would outscore the Blue Devils in every quarter, but their high-powered offense – which ranked 28th in the nation entering the game – took a while to find it's footing.
They would find their shooting touch in the second half, tallying 50 points, their most in any half this season. Fairfield would shoot 63 percent from the floor (19-for-30) during that stretch.
The two leading scorers in Brown and Andersen led the way, combining for half of those points while shooting a combined 8-for-9 from the field.
The Stags would open up a 23-point lead minutes into the fourth quarter after tallying an 11-0 run. Four different Stags scored during that stretch with
Nicole Gallagher putting the emphasis with a fastbreak layup.
The Stags held Central to just 52 points, their lowest against a Division I opponent this season. The Blue Devils also shot just 29 percent from the floor, the fourth time in five games that Fairfield has held an opponent to shoot less than 30 percent in a game.
They entered the game placed ninth in the nation in field goal percentage defense at .309.
Offensively, the Stags reached the 70-point mark for the fifth-straight game, the first time they have accomplished that feat since the 2001-02 campaign.
Fairfield will close out their longest road trip in three years when they travel to crosstown rivals Sacred Heart on Wednesday at 7pm.
