First Half Propels Fairfield Past Women's Basketball

Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. ? Controlling the rebounding battle 47-24, which included 22 offensive rebounds, to go along with forcing 19 turnovers, led Fairfield University over the Canisius College women's basketball team 72-58 at Alumni Hall on Sunday afternoon.

Junior Amanda Cavo had 15 points for the Griffs (10-12, 5-6 MAAC), which included 4-of-5 shooting on 3-pointers. Sophomore Brittan? Russell also had 15 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists while senior Laura Buetow had 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting and six rebounds.

Fairfield (16-6, 6-5) opened up its first-half lead during a 10-minute stretch where the Griffs' offense produced four points. Leading 15-12, the Stags went on a 16-4 run, which included six points each from Tara Flaherty and Sabra Wrice. Canisius shot 44 percent in the first half, but allowed 14 offensive rebounds and committed 14 turnovers as Fairfield scored 17 points off those turnovers.

The Stags pushed their lead to 43-26 to open the half before the Griffs scored eight consecutive points, getting five from Radke and three from Cavo to make it a 43-34 game with 14:27 remaining.

With it still a nine-point game, the Stags extended their lead to 14 points, getting a 3-pointer from Meka Werts and basket from Wrice with 8:30 remaining.

Canisius was able to cut it to seven points twice during a stretch when the Griffs held Fairfield to just two made free throws during six minutes. The latest occurrence came with 2:41 remaining after two free throws by Russell made the score 56-49. Fairfield came down and after a missed layup by Flaherty, Caskin grabbed an offensive rebound and found a wide-open Lauren Groom in the corner, who nailed a 3-pointer to make it 59-49. Canisius never got closer than eight the rest of the way as the Stags made 13-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes.

“We didn't play well in the first half, letting them control the glass, turning the ball over and not playing solid defensively,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “We did a better job of those things in the first half and tried to dig back, but we dug ourselves too much of a hole in the first half and still allowed key offensive rebounds."

Wrice led the Stags with 24 points, which included the senior going 12-of-12 from the line. Flaherty had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Stags, who controlled the rebounding margin 47-24.

Canisius returns home for two games next weekend at the Koessler Athletic Center. The Griffs host Siena on Friday night, on “Think Pink” night.

Game Notes: The Griffs extended their NCAA Division I record for consecutive games with a made 3-pointer, to 412 games on a make by Cavo a minute in the first half... Canisius lost for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday in seven games and are now 7-5... Canisius lost for the first time at Alumni Hall since Feb. 18, 2002... Russell saw her consecutive game streak with a steal end at 24, the same length as Jessie Lamparski that covered parts of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons... Cavo is now shooting 21-of-45 (46.7 percent) on 3-pointers in her career against the Stags.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Jessie Lamparski: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#53 Laura Buetow: C; 6' 3"; Redshirt

#12 Amanda Cavo: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#1 Brittan? Russell: G; 5' 5"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#23 Jessie Lamparski
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#53 Laura Buetow
: 6' 3"; Redshirt
: C

#12 Amanda Cavo
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#1 Brittan? Russell
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: G