ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The top-seeded Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will start their title defense and look for the sixth MAAC Tournament Title in program history as they begin play in the MAAC Quarterfinals against eighth-seeded Manhattan on Wednesday at noon. The Stags will be looking to clinch a spot in the MAAC Semifinals for the 35th time in the conference's 44-year history.
 
For the first time in two years, the Stags will be coming off a conference loss as their 72-65 setback at Quinnipiac snapped their 42-game winning streak against MAAC foes which had been the second-longest in MAAC history.
 
Fairfield fell behind by as many as 19 points in the first quarter as the Bobcats started the game on a 23-4 run before Kendall McGruder's 3-pointer stopped the run in the final minute of the first quarter.
 
The Stags did not go down without a fight and fought all the way back from that deficit to take the lead twice in the second half. The Stags held a one-point lead with nine minutes left in the game, but fell cold on the offensive end, being held without a field goal for a nine-minute span. Meghan Andersen stopped that stretch with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left.
 
Andersen finished with a team-high 21 points, the seventh-straight game she has reached double-figures.
 
She also highlighted Fairfield's postseason awards as she was one of four All-MAAC players. Andersen was voted to the All-MAAC First Team for the second-straight season. Kaety L'Amoreaux earned a spot on the All-MAAC Second Team while Emina Selimovic claimed Third Team honors. Cyanne Coe rounded out the group with a place on the All-Rookie Team.
 
The Stags claimed one major award with graduate student Raiana Brown being named the MAAC Sixth Player of the Year. Brown has reached double-figures in scoring in six of her last nine games while averaging 12.3 points in that span. In her collegiate career she has netted 2,284 points which is 18th among all active NCAA student-athletes.
 
Fairfield brings a 19-1 conference record into the tournament, the third time in the last four seasons they have won at least 19 games in the conference.
 
Fairfield will be looking for their second-straight MAAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance and their third in the last four years. In total, Fairfield has claimed five MAAC titles and six appearances in the Big Dance.
 
With a win, the Stags will have a day off to focus on the MAAC Semifinals, being held on Friday at noon at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.