ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The 25th-ranked Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will play for their third-straight MAAC Championship as the Stags advanced to the Championship Game with a 65-48 victory over Merrimack. Fairfield out-scored the Warriors 37-24 in the second half en-route to their 14th finals appearance. Jillian Huerter led the Stags with a career-high 19 points going 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Fairfield will now meet top-seeded Quinnipiac in the Championship Game on Monday night at 6pm.
 
"That's what March is all about," Head Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "That is a really good Merrimack team. They are scrappy and play incredibly hard. We knew it was going to be a really tough, physical, and aggressive game and I though we answered the bell. We were poised when we needed to be in moments and we got stops when we needed to."
 
Huerter was one of three Stags in double-figures with Meghan Andersen nearly missing a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. Janelle Brown also recorded 10 including a crucial 4-point play in the second half.
 
Huerter gave the Stags their first big momentum swing with back-to-back triples to close out the first quarter and give Fairfield a 14-10 lead. She would swish through another big 3-pointer to break a tied score early in the second.
 
Fairfield would use a 10-0 run between the third and fourth quarters to grab a 14-point lead. Sydni Scott capped the run with a three. Brown highlighted the run with a four-point play to begin the final quarter.
 
The Stags had one of their best defensive outings of the season, tying a season-high with 16 steals. The Stags also held Merrimack to fewer than 50 points, the ninth time this year they accomplished that feat.
 
The victory was also the 800th Division I win for the program and propels the Stags to their third-straight MAAC Championship game and their fourth in the last five seasons.
 
Fairfield will be looking for their seventh MAAC title in program history when they face Quinnpiac on Monday night at 6pm.