Fairfield University women’s basketball player Baendu Lowenthal (Riverside, N.J.) was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) player of the week.  It marks the junior’s first-ever MAAC weekly award, and the Stags first award of the 2007-08 season.

Lowenthal, a graduate of Riverside High School, got off to a fast start in the Stags first two games of the season, averaging 21.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.  Of her 16 rebounds in the first two games, 11 of them have been on the offensive glass. Lowenthal is shooting 67.9 percent, 19-28, from the field, and has four assists and four steals.

She began the season with a career-high 28-point effort in the Stags 72-57 win at Richmond.  Lowenthal shot 12-13 from the field in that game, setting a career mark for field goals made.  She also pulled down seven rebounds, four on the offensive glass.  In the Stags home opener, Lowenthal once again led the Stags with 14 points, shooting 7-15 from the field.  She led the squad with nine boards, including seven on the offensive glass.

Lowenthal has helped the Stags to a 2-0 start for just the fourth time in the program’s varsity history and the first time since 2000-01, when Fairfield earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  Fairfield begins an eight-game road swing on Tuesday, traveling to Harvard for a 7 p.m. contest, before heading to the Cal Poly Holiday Tournament, Friday and Saturday.