The Fairfield University (5-1) women’s basketball team (game notes) returns home after a four-game road trip and host the University of Maine (1-5) at Alumni Hall.  For first-year head coach Joe Frager it marks his Alumni Hall debut.

The Stags enter the game with a 5-1 record, and for the first time this season will tip-off a game after being defeated in their previous outing.  Fairfield opened the season at 5-0, the third best start in the program’s history.  The 1983-84 Division I team began the year at 7-0, while the Division III squad in 1974-75 posted a perfect 16-0 record.

Fairfield and Maine are meeting for just the second time in the history of the women’s basketball programs.  The Stags won that contest, in 1984-85, by a score of 75-66 at Alumni Hall.

The Stags will play a pair of MAAC games in the following week, with the conference opener Friday at Saint Peter’s.  Fairfield will host defending league champion Marist on Sunday, again at Alumni Hall, with tip-off set for 1 p.m.  That is the first of three straight home games for the Stags.  Fairfield will host Boston College at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Arena at Harbor Yard, and St. Francis (NY) on Saturday, Dec. 22, at Alumni Hall at 1 p.m.

Quick Hits:
    *    Sabra Wrice was named the MVP of the Cal-Poly Holiday Beach Classic, scoring 28 against North Dakota State and 20 in the win over the host Mustangs as the Stags captured the tournament crown
    *   Stephanie Geehan had a pair of double-doubles in the Stags three-game Thanksgiving Week roadswing.  She had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win at Harvard and than had a 10-point, 13-rebound effort against North Dakota State
    *    Through games of Wednesday, Nov. 28 the Stags were allowing opponents to average just 52.7 points per game, the best mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
    *    Baendu Lowenthal, who had an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double against Cal-Poly, is ranked second in the MAAC, through Wednesday, shooting a team-best 56.9 percent from the floor
    *    Through games of Wednesday, Megan Caskin is averaging a league-high 36.17 minutes per game, after having seen action in all 40 minute against Villanova
    *    The Stags have enjoyed great success at Alumni Hall, posting an all-time record of 195-64 in the building, including a 26-game win streak from 1976-78
    *    The Stags were 2-5 at Alumni Hall in 2006-07, the first year they had played games at the on-campus venue since the 2000-01 season
    *    Fairfield will play seven games at Alumni Hall during the 2007-08 season, including contests with five MAAC opponents