The Fairfield University women's basketball team won for the third straight time on Sunday, defeating Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Loyola College 48-41 at Alumni Hall.  With the win the Stags improve to 13-5 overall and 3-4 in league play, while the Greyhounds fall to 8-9 on the year and are also now 3-4 in conference action.

The Stags held an 11-point halftime lead, 29-18, and pushed that advantage to 17 points, 37-20, four minutes into the second half.  But Loyola began chipping away from that point.  A Stephanie Cziria lay-up with 10:02 to play gave Fairfield a 43-29 lead, but would also mark the Stags last basket for over seven minutes.  In that time the Greyhounds shot 3-14 from the field to close to within seven points, 43-36. 

Sabra Wrice hit a free throw with 2:51 to play to temporarily quell the tide, but the Greyhounds poured in five straight points in a 13 second span, to get within three points, 44-41 with 2:09 to play.

The Stags defense tightened again at that point and did not allow another Greyhound point.  Baendu Lowenthal, who was limited by foul trouble, had what could have been the biggest rebound of the game, on offensive one with 33 seconds left.  On the ensuing in-bound play, she laid home the ball for a 46-41 advantage.  Lowenthal corralled the defensive board off a Loyola missed three-pointer on the next possession, with 13.1 seconds to play, which led to a pair of Lauren Groom free throws with 11 seconds left, and the final margin of victory.

Wrice led the Stags in scoring with 13 points, including a pair of three-pointers.  Stephanie Geehan equaled a career-high with a game-high 16 rebounds, the third-best single-game effort in program history.  Groom finished with four points, all at the free throw line, and eight boards.  Megan Caskin continued her strong play with six assists and eight rebounds.  Fairfield had points and rebounds from all nine players that saw action, with eight putting up numbers in each of the categories.

The Stags have allowed just 84 points in its last two games, holding Loyola to 41 points, the lowest opponent point total in the Stags Division I history.  It marked the second time in the series that the Stags held Loyola to 41 points, defeating the Greyhounds 49-41 on Jan. 1, 1999.  The Stags first accomplished the feat on Dec. 9, 1995, defeating UMBC 73-41.  It marks the second time this season that the Stags have held a foe to that point total, defeating Mount St. Mary's to 41 points (70-41) on Dec. 30, 2007.

Loyola received a game-high 14 points from Siobhan Prior.  Vika Sholokhova had a team-best seven boards, went 4-6 at the line, but was 0-5 from the field.  The Greyhounds had had three starters, and five players total, not make a field goal in the game, combining to go 0-23 from the field.

Fairfield shot 32.8 percent from the field for the game, hitting 19-58 from the field, and 3-12 from behind the three-point line.  Loyola was 15-59 from the field, but 3-17 from downtown.  The Stags hit 7-10 at the stripe, while the Greyhounds hit 8-13.

For the second straight game Fairfield recorded over 50 rebounds, with 52, while holding Loyola to 35 rebounds.  The Stags had a 22-17 advantage on the offensive glass.

For the second straight game the Stags offense was stagnate early, opening the game hitting for just 1-12 from the field over the first 6:45 of play.  Again the Stags defense was solid, keeping them in the game, as they trailed just 7-2, despite the drought.  Meka Werts knocked down a three-pointer with 12:51 to play in the first half.  That basket jumpstarted a 9-2 Fairfield run, putting them ahead 11-9.  Fairfield went 4-7 from the field during the stretch.

The Stags continued the run, pushing their lead to 15-10, on a Werts jumper as the shot clock ran down with 5:30 to play in the first half.  Fairfield pushed the lead to 15, 27-12, when Sabra Wrice knocked down a three-pointer with 2:08 left in the first half.  The Greyhounds would out score Fairfield 6-2 the remainder of the half, hitting 2-3 from the field in the final 1:34.  Fairfield held Loyola to 3-20 from the field over the first 18:26 of play.

The Stags are back in action on Friday when they travel to Lawrenceville, N.J. to complete the season series with Rider, whom the Stags defeated 59-43 on Friday night at Alumni Hall.  That game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.