The Fairfield University women's basketball team returned to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play with a 71-50 win over Loyola College at Alumni Hall on Sunday.  The win improves the Stags to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in MAAC play, while the Greyhounds fall to 7-6 on the year and 2-1 in conference action.

Stephanie Geehan drained a three-pointer as time expired in the first-half to give the Stags their largest lead of the game to that point, 44-23.  It capped a half in which the Stags shot 46.3 percent from the field.  The Stags opened the game by scoring the first 14 points of the game and not allowing a Loyola basket until 6:23 into the contest.  Fairfield answered that with a 4-0 run to take an 18-2 advantage, and would not relinquish the double-digit edge for the remainder of the game.

Baendu Lowenthal scored on the Stags first three possessions of the second-half as they opened a 55-32 edge with 12:54 to play in the game.  Loyola would make its run at that point, with a 15-4 run over the next seven minutes, to lose to within 12 points, 59-47 with 5:41 to play.  Geehan snapped the Stags 4:30 scoring drought with a fast break lay-up to make it 61-47 with 5:26 to play.  That basket jumpstarted a 12-3 Fairfield run to end the contest.

Geehan finished with her fourth double-double in the team's last six games, tallying 12 points and pulling in a career-high 18 rebounds.  She had seven offensive rebounds, blocked four shots and had an assist in the win.  Lowenthal led the Stags with 16 points, shooting 8-15 from the field in just 14 minutes of action.  She also had seven rebounds, four on the offensive glass.

Desiree Pina and Shireyll Moore both scored in double figures in the contest, giving the Stags four players with 10 or more points.  Pina had 15 points, hitting 5-6 at the line, to go along with five rebounds.  Moore had 11 points and four assist in the win.

Fairfield shot 42.3 percent from the field for the game, hitting 30-71.  As a team, the Stags had 52 rebounds, a season-high, with 23 coming on the offensive glass.  Loyola finished with 27 rebounds in the game, five on the offensive glass.

The Greyhounds received a 17-point effort from Kaitlin Grant, who shot 7-10.  As a team Loyola hit 38.5 percent of its shots, 20-52, after opening 0-7 from the floor.  Both teams committed 15 turnovers in the contest.

The Stags return to action on Wednesday, Jan.7 with an 8 p.m. EST time game at the University of Kansas.  The game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas is the final non-conference game of the year for the Stags.