ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Winning players step up when they're needed the most and Kaety L'Amoreaux was desperately needed with just 13 seconds left on the clock and she answered the call by converting the eventual game-winning reverse layup leading to an emotional 49-48 victory over Mount St. Mary's, and advancing the Stags to the MAAC Championship Game. After L'Amoreaux's layup turned a one-point deficit to a one-point lead, she made another big play forcing a tie-up and getting possession back. After she hit one of two free throws, Meghan Andersen made another winning play by hauling in the offensive board and hitting two big free throws to ice the game.
 
"Wasn't that pretty," Head Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "I'm really proud of the grittiness and resilience that our team showed to pull out that win. This time of year it doesn't have to be pretty, but we had just incredible toughness down the stretch."
 
The Stags (27-4) led by double-digits early in the fourth quarter when Raiana Brown put through a layup to put the score at 42-30 with 6:12 left in the game.
 
The Mount would make their late run with a 15-2 spurt from that point with the only Fairfield bucket being a Izabela Nicoletti Leite jumper at the 4:05 mark.
 
After that shot, the Mount would score nine-straight points culminating in an Anna LeMaster 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to take a one-point lead.
 
That's when L'Amoreaux's heroics would take centerstage with her layup at the 13-second mark, the steal, and her free throw.
 
"There really wasn't going through my head," L'Amoreaux said. "Just if my teammates are open I'm going to hit them, but they gave me the lane and I took it."
 
After allowing 19 points in the first quarter, the Stags' defense stepped up holding the Mount to just nine points through the second and third quarters and 11 combined points during a 25-minute stretch.
 
Raiana Brown led the Stags with 13 points as she went 5-for-8 from the floor. L'Amoreaux contributed everywhere on the court with a team-high nine rebounds.
 
With the win, the Stags advance to the MAAC Championship game for the 13th-time in program history, their second-straight, and their third in the last four seasons.
 
Fairfield will be looking for the program's sixth MAAC Tournament Title in the conference's Championship Game tomorrow at 1:30pm.