Stags' Trio Triumphs: Lowenthal, Werts, and Wrice score 55 total in win

The women's basketball team returned to play at Alumni Hall on Sunday afternoon in another conference match-up with Saint Peter's and came out with a 78-70 victory.

The Stags were coming off of a tough loss to Siena and needed a win to stay above .500 in conference play.

In the early going, it looked as if Fairfield might have trouble reaching their goal. The Peahens scored eight straight points early in the first quarter to take a 12-6 lead.

However, the Stags battled back to take a 13-12 lead after scoring seven straight points. Saint Peter's would hit their next shot to take the lead again, but that would be the last time they would be ahead for the rest of the game.

From that point on, Fairfield outscored Saint Peter's 28-13 until halftime for a 41-27 lead.

The Stags would stretch their lead to 19 with 15:20 left in the game for their largest of the night. It remained in double digits until the final minute of the game.

Fairfield's scorers were hitting everything in this game. The team shot 50 percent from the field in both halves and 89 percent from the line.

They were led by sophomore forward Baendu Lowenthal and junior guards Sabra Wrice and Meka Werts. They scored a combined 55 and shot 73.1 percent from the floor.

Wrice paced the group hitting 7 of 8 from the field and 4 of 4 from the charity stripe for a total of 19. Lowenthal and Werts both put in 18.

Werts provided a spark from the bench, coming in as the sixth man and not only scoring, but racking up two steals and dishing out five assists.

The Stags also won the battle on the boards, coming up with 37 to the Peahens' 26. Werts and Wrice both had a team-high six rebounds.

Despite all the things the Stags did well, they still made some mental errors, a problem which has cost Fairfield this year.

They had 22 turnovers for the game, including six by sophomore point guard Megan Caskin, after a game in which she registered zero.

Fouls also hurt somewhat. Caskin and Lowenthal both had four by the end of the game, while junior Stephanie Cziria had three.

And while the game was seemingly out of reach at the time, the Stags allowed St. Peter's to shoot 50 percent in the second half.

With the win, Fairfield improves to 8-9 overall and 4-2 in the MAAC. Loyola also won their game today, but Fairfield holds the tie-breaker as virtue of their win over the Greyhounds last Monday. Fairfield is in third place in the MAAC with an upcoming game against first place Iona in New Rochelle, NY.

-Chris Simmons