FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Women's Basketball team forced 28 Maine turnovers, scoring 36 points off those miscues, leading to a 74-51 victory over the Black Bears at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Three-time MAAC Player of the Week
Kaety L'Amoreaux led the Stags with 17 points while also pacing the team with five rebounds, four assists, and five steals.
With the win, the Stags close out their non-conference slate with a 6-3 record, with four victories against teams that reached national postseasons last year.
"I like how we started the game with some defensive disruption," Head Coach
Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "I think it set the tone early on. We're still looking to be consistent throughout the game. We had another lull in the second quarter but we responded well after halftime and continued to rely on our defense to create some offense."
The Stags' defensive success started right from the tip as Fairfield tallied six steals in Maine's first seven possessions. The defensive intensity allowed the Stags to score the first eight points of the game and forcing two Maine timeouts in the first three minutes.
Fairfield would take a double-digit lead on a
Milou van Vliet 3-pointer and grab a 15-point advantage as
Jillian Huerter swished through a triple in the final second of the quarter.
Maine had their best stand in the second quarter, holding the Stags scoreless for a four-minute stretch while tallying an 11-0 run to get within five at 27-22.
The Stags would find their footing in the third quarter, netting 26 points in the stanza while shooting 64 percent from the floor and 63 percent from behind the arc.
Fairfield would run their lead to as many 25 in the fourth with
Sydni Scott hitting both of her free throws.
L'Amoreaux – a reigning National Player of the Week – led a trio of Stags in double-figures with a 17.
Meghan Andersen followed with 15 while going 6-for-11 from the field. She also connected on the 160th made 3-pointer of her career, moving her into eighth on the program's all-time list.
Cyanne Coe rounded out the list with 10 on 5-for-6 shooting.
Janelle Brown would swish through her 100th career 3-pointer, becoming the 18th Stag to reach that mark.
Fairfield closes out their non-conference slate with six total wins and four over teams that reached a national postseason last season. Fairfield found that success with a nation's best 13.0 3-pointers per game while connecting at a .411 clip which ranks in the top-10 in Division I.
"I think the overarching theme is we need to be consistent," Coach Carly said. "We've shown whether it's a quarter or a game that we can compete with anybody. We need to show up as Fairfield women's basketball every single day regardless of who it is we're playing or what the score is."
The Stags will open MAAC play on the road against Rider on Friday, Dec. 19 at 6pm.
