BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team scored nine-straight points to grab their largest lead of the game mid-way through the second quarter but the four-seeded Indiana Hoosiers were too much to handle in the second half as the Stags fell 89-56 in the NCAA Tournament First Round. The loss puts an end to the most historic season in Stags history with a final 31-2 record and the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. It is also the first setback the Stags had since November after pulling off 29-straight wins the second-longest winning streak in the country.
"I want to say how proud I am for everything this team has accomplished," Head Coach
Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "I don't think the final score is indicative of what this game was and what this season meant. Not only to this team but to the university and the conference they represented themselves extremely well. I'm thankful to our senior class who have given everything they have to this program. We have a group who is hungry and wants to be in these moments and they know its just the beginning."
The Stags hung tough with Indiana throughout the first half, leading for seven of the first 20 minutes of the game. Fairfield led by as many as five points twice during the second quarter coming after a Mackenzie Daleba layup at the 5:18 mark and a
Meghan Andersen two-pointer at 4:46. In total the Stags would score 34 points in the first half and trailed by only four in the intermission.
The high-powered Indiana offense showed up in the second half as the Hoosiers shot nearly 60 percent from the floor while out-scoring the Stags 51-22. That run would include a 16-3 stretch the change a three-point lead into a double-digit advantage.
The MAAC Player of the Year and MAAC Tournament MVP
Janelle Brown led the Stags with 19 points and six rebounds.
Meghan Andersen was the lone other Stag in double-figures with 10.
"This team has meant everything," Brown said. "We all really work for each other. That's the identity of this team, we come in ready to go but ready to make each other better and that's why we had this amazing, historical season. This loss was a lesson but to be a champion you have to learn from it. This team is amazing and I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else."
The loss puts an end to the most historic season in Fairfield Women's Basketball history that saw their first-ever national ranking in the AP Top-25 Poll. The 29-game winning streak culminated in the program's fifth MAAC Championship and a perfect 23-0 mark against conference competition.
