Fairfield Falls to 1st Place Iona, 66-52

Coming into Friday night, the Fairfield women’s basketball team was looking to prove that it was one of the top teams in the MAAC.

Iona sat at 6-0 in the conference and 11-6 overall. Fairfield was third in the MAAC at 4-2 and 8-9 overall. A win would have cemented the Stags’ place as an upper echelon team.

However, it didn’t work out that way. Fairfield fell, 66-52, and dropped to fourth place in the conference.

The Stags never held a lead in the game, but in the beginning, the score remained tight. After falling behind 13-6, Fairfield rallied to come within two. The score stood at 15-13 midway through the first half.

From then on, things got tough. Sophomore forward Baendu Lowenthal hit two free throws with 11:02 left to cut the Gaels’ lead to 19-15. The Stags didn’t score again until Lowenthal hit a layup with 6:17 left.

During that span, Iona went on a 13-0 run to increase its lead to 32-15 before Lowenthal’s shot.

Despite being down 43-28 at the half, the Stags did have some positives. They shot 46 percent from the field, but still couldn’t stop the Gaels, allowing them to shoot 56 percent.

The next half would be much closer, with Fairfield winning it 24-23. The close score reflects both teams’ offenses, as each shot around 34 percent.

The loss came despite Fairfield’s season-low 13 turnovers. However, the Stags were only able to force 11 on defense and allowed the Gaels to hit 46 percent of their shots for the entire game.

Lowenthal paced the Stags with a game-high 16 points. She also pulled down six rebounds to lead the team in that category as well.

Junior guard Sabra Wrice was right behind her in both stats, putting in 14 points while pulling down five rebounds.

The Gaels were able to beat the Stags on the boards, 37-31 for the game. Fairfield’s frontcourt is normally a strength, but Iona was able to neutralize it, limiting the Stags’ second-chance points and fast-breaks.

The loss drops Fairfield to fourth place in the MAAC, behind Marist, Iona, and Loyola. Marist and Iona are both undefeated in the MAAC (7-0), while Loyola (5-2) is only one game ahead of Fairfield (4-3). Fairfield holds the tiebreaker with Loyola by virtue of its win over the Greyhounds earlier in the year. So despite losing to both Marist and Iona, Fairfield is still very much in contention for the top MAAC spots.

Up next for the Stags is Rider University on Sunday at Alumni Hall. Rider is currently 1-17 overall and 0-7 in the MAAC.

-Chris Simmons