Friday night will give Fairfield University basketball fans their first chance to see first-year head coach Joe Frager and his charges in live game action, as they take the floor against the University of Bridgeport.  The game will be played at the Arena at Harbor Yard, tipping off at 6 p.m., as the first game of a double-header with the school’s men’s teams.

The two teams met last Nov. 1 for the first time in nearly two decades.  The Stags, behind a 13-point effort from Sabra Wrice, earned a 65-39 victory in the exhibition contest. Baendu Lowenthal had nine points and a team-best seven rebounds in the contest.

The Riverside, N.J., duo of Wrice and Lowenthal will be two of the major cogs in the Stags wheel this season.  Wrice, a preseason First Team All-MAAC pick is the team’s leading rebounder, after finishing second in the MAAC last year at 15.7 points per game.  Lowenthal was selected to the preseason Second Team All-MAAC team this year, after a sophomore campaign that saw her average 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds.  Frager will have numerous other veterans to lean on as well in his first season, including seniors Stephanie Cziria and Meka Werts.  

The Stags will open the season for real on the road, when they play at the University of Richmond on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.  The team’s regular season home opener will come on Sunday, Nov. 18 at the Arena at Harbor Yard versus Sacred Heart at 4:30 p.m.