Women's basketball pregame thoughts

Bright and early here at the Times Union Center. Tip off is at 9:30. Iona swept the regular season series, winning 64-57 in Fairfield and then 87-78 in triple overtime at Iona.

• Iona is a very balanced team. Four starters average double-digits in points, but none over 11.8 per game. Fairfield will need to play well on defense if they hope to beat Iona.
• Fairfield will also need a big game on the boards. Iona ranks 37th nationally in rebounding margin and junior center Anna McLean averages 9.9 per game.
• Iona is a very good offensive team, but defensively they struggle. When Iona scores more than 70 points, they are 15-1. When Iona scores less than 60, they are 0-8. Fairfield needs to contain Iona's offense, although the same could be said for any game.
• As Fairfield showed yesterday, they can win games without getting points from Sabra Wrice '08. Other players stepped up big last game, but it would help to get more from Wrice this game. Another boost would be if Baendu Lowenthal stays out of foul trouble and can play more than 20+ minutes.

More from Albany as the game goes on.

-Chris Simmons