Reigning US Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Week Kaety L’Amoreaux led the way with 17 points as Fairfield women’s basketball knocked off Maine 74-51 in their final nonconference game of the season on Friday night.
L’Amoreaux also added five rebounds, five steals and four assists, all of which were team-highs, to continue a stellar stretch of play for the Stags.
“I have the ability to do everything because my teammates around me give me that ability,” L’Amoreaux said. “I can attack because people have to respect the three, but at the same time, if they double me, then I’ve got shooters and cutters all around me.”
In what has become a trend for the Stags this year, they started fast in the first quarter, outscoring the Black Bears 24-9 in the frame. That included a dominant early defensive showing, forcing six turnovers in Maine’s first seven possessions of the game.
The Black Bears finished the quarter with more turnovers than total shot attempts.
“Going over film a lot, the teams [Maine was] playing weren’t really disrupting them,” said sophomore road runner Cyanne Coe. “They kind of just were letting them catch the ball wherever they wanted to, and they haven’t faced a team yet that was all up in their face. So I think just being up there and having high hands forced the majority of their turnovers.”
Coe joined L’Amoreaux in double figures with 10 points to go along with two steals and two blocks, and road runner Meghan Andersen tallied 15 points.
The Black Bears fought back after taking the early punch and made a run in the second quarter, winning the frame 15-9 to enter the half down only nine points.
Just as the fast starts have become a strength for the Stags, slow second periods have become a weakness. Including tonight’s result, Fairfield has now been outscored by 37 points across all second quarters this season.
“We’re constantly looking at lineups and combinations, and we pressed a little bit more today to kind of get our juices flowing a little bit on the defensive end,” head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said of the second quarter struggles. “We’re trying to figure it out, and it goes back to that consistency piece of not getting comfortable when we have a lead.”
Fortunately for the Stags, the lull didn’t prove costly, with a quick 9-0 run on consecutive baskets from Christina Pham, Andersen and L’Amoreaux widening the lead to 20 and forcing a Maine timeout with just over halfway through the third quarter.
From there, the Stags coasted home, emptying the bench with about four minutes remaining in the game.
The victory signals the end of a challenging nonconference schedule that has left the Stags with a 6-3 record and an NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking of 41, pending an update from tonight’s result. The slate, which included road victories over Richmond and Villanova and a pair of losses to ranked opponents in North Carolina and Iowa, has given Thibault-DuDonis and her team a lot to build on as conference play approaches.
“I think the overarching theme is we need to be consistent. We’ve shown whether it’s a quarter or a game that we can compete with anybody,” Thibault-DuDonis said. “We knew this team needed to be challenged early and often so that we are battle-tested as the season goes on. We’re just trying to figure out how we can put more pieces together for longer stretches.”
The Stags will now have a week off to prepare for their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener on the road at Rider on Dec. 19. Opening tip is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
