Siena 54 Fairfield 46

The Fairfield University women's basketball team (10-4, 3-1 MAAC) ended their six game winning streak losing to the Siena Saints (6,8 4-0 MAAC) on the road. Click for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:
-The Stag's six game winning streak came to an end, while the Saints improved theirs to five straight.

-The Stags did not got many breaks in this game and Joe Frager said they had "two to three mental lapses" on defense in the first half and the team has not played in a game like this. He admitted that the squad made some silly mistake and were "panicky"

-Brittany MacFarlane was the lone standout and she recorded a double-double including a career high 13 rebounds.

-Desiree Pina shot 2-11 from the floor and 0-3 from behind the arc. Katelyn Linney was 4-16 and 3-14 from three while Joelle Nawrocki was 1-4 from long distance. The team total was 6-29 from three.

I agree with Frager, this was really one of the first times that the team played in a game that was not a blow out. They had to learn how to control the ball in a way that they were able to get an open shot. The team did not take advantage of their offense as it seemed everybody had an off day. The game would have been out of control if MacFarlane did not step up when Taryn Johnson was on the bench with foul trouble. Siena does deserve credit as they kept their composure and actually made their free throws.

Player of the Game: Brittany MacFarlane really showed something today.

Up Next: The Stags travel to Loyola on 1/14 at 4:30.

Fairfield 70 St. Peters 43

The Fairfield University men's basketball team (12-3, 5-0 MAAC) won their 11th straight game blowing out the St. Peters Peacocks (8-8, 3-2 MAAC) at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard. Click for a full recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:
-Fairfield has won 11 straight games the longest since the 1961-1962 season when the Stags pulled off 13 consecitive victories. It is the eighth longest streak in the nation.

-The Stags are now ranked second in the nation in scoring defense.

-The Peacocks have lost 12 straight games against the Stags and have never beaten Ed Cooley. Despite starting both Ryan Bacon and Wesley Jenkins who were both injured earlier in the week.

-St.Peters was the second to last team to allow 70 points to an opponent. (The Stags have still not allowed that many). Fairfield could have scored more if they kept the pedal to the metal.

-Derek Needham led all scorers with 16 points going to the free throw line 10 times which accounted for half of his points. Ryan Olander recorded his third double double with 15 points and pulling down a game high 12 rebounds.

This was a great game. It is obvious that the team is improving with every game. The defense was spectacular but the Peacocks did miss a lot of easy put backs and close layups. Every time that the Peacocks thought about going through the hole they clogges up the middle and the team was quick recording 8 steals and 7 blocks.

Ryan Olander was a beast on the boards. He made it look easy in this game and got a lot of key rebounds. He would reach for the long rebound and was able to power through to get the close tips. He also DID NOT MISS a shot going 7-7 from the floor and even 1-1 from behind the arc. He had a perfect game and only committed two fouls early in the second half. This was the best that I have ever seen him, he just seemed to play with confidence.

Despite going only 4-12 from the floor and 0-4 from three, Derek Needham looked like last year's version. That was the immediate feeling. He had a 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. But what made you the happiest was the way he drove to the hoop and either pulled up for a fading layup or rose above everyone to get a near easy layup. The shots just did not go in. Simple as that. If he continues with the way he played today, his numbers will improve.
Player of the Game: Derek Needham and Ryan Olander. Arguably the best they have both been this year.

Up Next: The Stags will go for 12 in a row as they travel to Loyola University on 1/14.

Marist Scouting Report

Marist enters tonight’s game with a 3-12 overall record and a 2-1 MAAC mark. All three of the team’s wins have come at the McCann Center, sporting a 3-3 mark on its
home court. The Red Foxes own a 0-7 mark in away games and a 0-2 slate in netual games.

The Red Foxes certainly know how to get to the free throw line, averaging better than 20 attempts per game. In their three wins this season, the Red Foxes averaged 35
free throw attempts, as compared to just 15 by the opposition. In the team’s 11 losses, Marist averaged 20 free throw attempts while the opponents averaged 28 charity tosses per game. R.J. Hall brought a streak of 30 consecutive free throws made into the Princeton game.

R.J. Hall dipped below double figures after the Princeton game, but still is the team’s leading scorer at 9.9 points per outing. Candon Rusin is next in line with 9.6points every forty minutes, followed by Sam Prescott’s 8.9 scoring average. Prescott and Rusin account for 61 of the team’s 82 three-point field goals, led by Prescott’s 34 longrange jumpers. Jay Bowie is the team’s top rebounder among starters with 4.5 caroms per contest.

Nawrocki is 'Rockin'

Joelle Nawrocki, who played all but 3 minutes of the game at Niagara, is shooting a team-best 50.0 percent from the floor.

Over the last two games she is 12-24 from the floor, for 30 points, to raise her scoring average to 8.0 a game for the year - 24th in the MAAC.

She has scored in double figures five times this season - four of those coming in the last six games. Against Niagara she handed out a career-high six assists and a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Nawrocki is also 8th in the conference in assists with 2.3 per game.

Historic Night For Linney

Katelyn Linney scored a game high 27 points against Niagara helping the Stags to their fifth straight win. In the process she reached the 500 points mark and became just the seventh member of the Fairfield basketball program to reach 100 made threes.

Katelyn Linney has connected 35 times from behind the arc this season and now has 102 career makes from downtown. There are only seven players in Fairfield history that have connected 100 or more times from behind the arc, led by the 209 makes of Holli Tapley (1997-2001).

Katelyn Linney is 24th in the country in three-point field goal percentage and is 39th nationally in three pointers made per game.

For the season she is shooting .467 from behind the arc (35-75) and .450 from the floor. The rest of the team combined have 25, Joelle Nawrocki is second on the team with 11.

Fairfield 68 Niagara 38

The Fairfield University women's basketball team (9-3, 2-0 MAAC) won their fifth straight decision as they defeated the Niagara Purple Eagles (1-12, 0-2 MAAC). Click for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:
- Katelyn Linney had 27 points as she went 5-7 from behind the arc and 10-14 from the floor.

- The team used three runs to take control of the game. The squad had seperate runs of 19-0, 13-0, and finally 14-0 to conclude the game.

- They entered the game third in the nation in scorind defense and their average will decrease after the game.

- They have swept the Western New York portion of their schedule for the second consecutive year.

It was a good effort for the Stags but this could have been the only opponent in the world they could have beaten by 30 points while only shooting 41 percent in the first half and having 6 shots blocked. This stat is gradually improving as their offense is finally waking up. The one concern you have is Pina was only .333 from the floor. When she gets going the offense should be pretty good. Hopefully this is not a down year for the junior.
Player of the Game: Katelyn Linney who had 27 points and only missed 4 shots.

Up Next:
The Stags will return home to face the Gaels of Iona College on 1/8 starting at 1 PM at Alumni Hall.

Pina is Heating Up

Desiree Pina has scored 67 of her 99 points in the last five games, raising her per game average from 5.3 a game to 9.0 a game. Over the last five outings, in which she is averaging 13.4 points per game, Pina has scored in double figures four times. She scored a career-high 24 points against St. Francis (NY), with a 7-14 effort from the field.

She is coming off a day where she struggled from the floor but was 6-9 at the line on Sunday, with her last free throw being the 100th make of her career

She has scored in double figures in each of the last three games and four of the last five, averaging 13.4 points per game in the stretch.

Pina has raised her season average to 9.0 PPG and is now shooting .257 from the floor while nearly doubling her 3 point percentage while shooting .156.

It will take a long time for her numbers to approach where we all thought that she would be when the season ends. However, it is no surprise that while she has been heating up the Stags are on a four game winning streak.