FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Women's Basketball freshman, and four-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, Meghan Andersen erupted for a career-high 26 points, pacing four Stags in double figures and leading the squad to an 82-58 victory over Manhattan for their seventh-straight win. With the victory, the Stags move to 9-1 on the season including a perfect 2-0 mark in their early start of the MAAC slate.
 
"I'm proud of us putting together a complete game for the first time in a while," Head Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "I thought we were a little stagnant early but our defense spread to our offense and then we were able to capitalize on both sides of the ball."
 
Fairfield scored 72 of their 82 points in the final 30 minutes of the game, starting with an impressive 31-point mark in the second quarter.
 
Despite trailing by seven early in the second period, the Stags would fight back. Andersen would hit the big 3-pointer to give the Stags a 24-23 lead at the 5:25 mark, a lead the team would not relinquish. Fairfield would increase that advantage to nine with 19 seconds left in the quarter by getting points from their defense as Janelle Brown forced a steal and pushed the ball ahead to Andersen for the easy two.
 
Andersen would lead the Stags through that offensive barrage, netting 16 points in the second quarter, tying the most points by a Stag in any quarter this season.
 
Fairfield would keep that offensive success going, out-scoring the Jaspers 41-24 in the second half.
 
The Stags would find their shooting touch in the final 20 minutes, connecting on seven of their first eight 3-point attempts in the half, which was started by an Andersen trifecta.
 
Andersen would connect on both of her long-range attempts while Emina Selimovic swished through all three of her shots from behind the arc in the second half. Kendall McGruder also knocked down a pair in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Stags, facing the top-ranked defense in the league, netted 82 points while shooting 49 percent for the field, and 48 percent from long-range. The Jaspers entered the game allowing nearly half of that total at 44 points per contest.
 
Andersen led all scorers with her personal-best 26 points, followed by Brown at 14. Selimovic was paced by a career-high three 3-pointers to account for her 13 points and McGruder rounded out the group with 10.
 
As usual, Brown was the leader on the Stags' defensive end swiping a season-high six steals. McGruder led the passing attack with six assists while Brown added five dimes.
 
Andersen would also chip in seven rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block while shooting 9-for-16 from the field.
 
Fairfield will now have a 12-day break for final exams, next taking the court at Stonehill on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 2pm.