FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team held off a late New Haven charge by scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter to take a 79-60 victory in front of over 3,000 local school kids in their annual Kids' Day Out contest. Four Stags scored in double-figures led by Kaety L'Amoreaux who filled out the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and six steals.
 
"I'd rather have an ugly win rather than a pretty loss," Head Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "We've shown resiliency throughout the year. When teams like Villanova or South Florida went on runs, we were able to weather the storm. We have a bunch of upperclassmen and senior leadership that have been in these moments and have been able to take steps forward and work together."
 
The Stags (4-1) got the early comfortable advantage, leaping out to an 11-point lead after the first quarter and a 20-point advantage in the final minute of the half. Meghan Andersen was at the forefront of the team's early success, scoring 10 of the Stags' first 13 points in the first four minutes of the game.
 
Fairfield shot 48 percent in the first half while draining seven 3-pointers at a 44 percent clip. Andersen, Janelle Brown, and Christina Pham all connected on a pair of long-range shots that helped the squad take a 41-24 lead into the locker room.
 
New Haven would cut into that Fairfield lead by starting the second half on a 7-0 run, putting the score at 41-31. The Chargers would get as close as six on back-to-back 3-pointers to open up the fourth, but long-range shots from Andersen and Milou van Vliet extended the Fairfield advantage to 12, holding off the late charge. The Stags ended the game on an 18-6 run to put the final score at 79-60.
 
With the win, the Stags were victorious in front of their largest home crowd of the season which was comprised of over 3,000 local school kids in the annual Kids' Day Out contest. Fairfield has now won three-straight Kids' Day Out contests at home and are 7-3 all-time.
 
"This team looks forward to playing in front of a crowd like that," Coach Carly said. "It's always fun to not only have a great energy in the building but also have a chance to make a positive impact on kids' lives. I can't say enough about our team and the amazing things they do to invest in the youth of our community. They do clinics, they go into schools, they're fantastic in that way. It means a lot to us not just to have a great crowd but be able to help them make a positive impact in the community."
 
As a team, the Stags had a season-high 14 steals as they forced 28 New Haven turnovers. L'Amoreaux led the defensive charge with a career-high six steals. Brown was also part of Fairfield's on-ball defense and was credited with four steals.
 
Fairfield totaled four double-digit scorers with Andersen (15), Brown (14), and van Vliet (career-high 12) also reaching the number.
 
The Stags had another impressive performance from the free throw line as they went 13-for-14 from the charity stripe. Fairfield entered the game fourth in the country in free throw percentage.
 
The Stags will hit the road for a three-game road strip starting with a contest at nationally-ranked Iowa on Sunday at 1pm EST.