Women's Basketball Defeats Fairfield

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. ? Getting a basket from Marie Warner with 18.1 seconds remaining, a steal from Brittan? Russell with 10 seconds remaining and two free throws from JJ Williams with 9.3 seconds left, the Canisius College women's basketball team defeated Fairfield University 55-51 in the Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday.

The Golden Griffins improve to 19-6 overall and 11-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, holding sole possession of second place. Canisus has now won 18 of 21 and 11 straight on the road.

“Even though she was struggling from the field, we needed Marie to take that last shot, which was huge. Then Britt came in and got a big steal for us while JJ knocked down two very important free throws,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “These are conference games in February. You have to grind and dig out wins.”

With the score tied at 51-51, Warner drove the right side and banked in a running hook shot to give Canisius the two-point lead. After a Fairfield timeout, Russell came on a double team and stole the ball from Lowenthal. Williams grabbed the loose ball, was fouled and knocked down two free throws to ice the game.

Senior Amanda Cavo led Canisius with 16 points, going 5-for-9 from behind arc while Warner had 15 points. Canisius made 11 3-pointers and shot 52.4 percent from behind the arc while holding Fairfield to 5-for-19 shooting (26.3 percent) in the second half.

Fairfield scored the first seven points en route to opening a 17-7 lead. Following a Canisius timeout, the Griffs went on an 18-6 run to take a 25-23 lead on a jumper from Micayla Drysdale. The Stags closed the half on an 8-3 run to take a 31-28 halftime lead.

The Stags pushed their lead to four points at 39-35 on a layup from Baendu Lowenthal before Canisius scored eight straight points to take a 43-39 advantage.

With the score 47-46, Lauren Groom hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to take a 49-47 advantage. The Griffs responded with a 3-pointer from Warner to retake a 50-49 lead. Cavo split two free throws but Fairfield got two free throws from Shireyll Moore to tie the game at 51-51 before Warner hit the game-winning jumper.

Lowenthal scored 15 points while Groom had 12. Megan Caskin led all players with nine rebounds.

Canisius concludes its four-game road swing on Monday, when the Golden Griffins take on Saint Peter's in the Yanitelli Center. Game time is set for 6 p.m. and will be shown on MAAC-TV and ESPN360.com.

Game Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 446 games on a 3-pointer by Brianna Lucas in the first half... Canisius improves to 24-15 in games decided by five points or fewer under Zeh... Canisius made double-digit 3-pointers for the 10th time this season and in three straight games for the second time this season... Cavo missed her first free throw since Dec. 22, against Rhode Island, ending her free-throw streak at 30... Canisius has now won its last six games against Fairfield in the Arena at Harbor Yard... Cavo now has 252 career 3-pointers, eight away from tying the program record.

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Players Mentioned

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

#23 Micayla Drysdale: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#13 Brianna Lucas: G; 5' 8"; Junior

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

#24 Marie Warner: F; 5' 11"; Senior

#31 JJ Williams: C; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

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

#23 Micayla Drysdale
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#13 Brianna Lucas
: 5' 8"; Junior
: G

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

#24 Marie Warner
: 5' 11"; Senior
: F

#31 JJ Williams
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: C