Women's Basketball 2/28/2010 10:44:00 PM Canisius College Athletics

Fairfield Defeats Women's Basketball on Senior Day

Fairfield scored the final five points of the game, and held Canisius to two field goals during the final seven minutes as the Golden Griffins lost 59-55 to the Stags on Senior Day in the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday.

Canisius finishes the regular season with an 11-18 record and 6-12 record in the MAAC. The Golden Griffins will be the No. 9 seed in the 2010 Citizens Bank MAAC Championship, facing No. 8 Saint Peter's on Thursday. Tipoff in the Times Union Center is set for 2 p.m. The winner of that game will face No. 1 seed Marist at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

Four Golden Griffins reached double figures with senior Brittané Russell scoring 12 points and setting the program record for games played by appearing in her 123rd game on Sunday. Junior Micayla Drysdale and freshman Ashley Durham each had 12 points with both players making four 3-pointers. Senior Ellie Radke had 11 points and nine rebounds.

“We go through stretches where we have scoring lulls and that's what happened at the end of the game,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “When we move the basketball well, we get open looks and are able to score. At the end of games, those droughts have been plaguing us throughout the season.”

Fairfield (17-12, 12-6 MAAC) scored the first six points of the game and held an 11-3 lead before Canisius went on a 19-5 run during the next eight minutes. The Griffs made five 3-pointers and four free throws during the run, not making its first two-point field goal of the game until a layup from freshman Whitney Ellenor with 3:22 left in the first half. The Griffs closed the half on a 7-2 run to hold a 29-24 lead at the break.

After Fairfield scored the first five points of the second half and eventually took a 34-33 lead on a layup from Stephanie Geehan, the Griffs scored eight straight points – getting a jumper from Russell and back-to-back 3-pointers from Drysdale and Durham – to take a 41-34 lead. The Stags would respond with a 10-2 run, taking a 46-44 lead on a jumper from Desiree Pina.

The teams traded the lead four times during the next four minutes and the Stags took a 54-49 lead on a layup from Taryn Johnson. The Griffs then scored six straight, capped by a 3-pointer from Drysdale as the shot clock buzzer sounded to put Canisius up 55-54 with 2:19 remaining.

That would be the last basket of the game for Canisius as the Stags made 5-of-6 free throws to put the game away.

Geehan had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds to go along with one block that gave Geehan the MAAC's all-time leader in blocks and made the senior the first women's basketball player in MAAC history with 100 blocks in a single season.

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 483 games on a 3-pointer by Radke early through the first half… Russell extended her streak of games with a 3-pointer to 26 straight games on a 3-pointer in the first half, tying Shauna Geronzin for the longest streak in program history… Canisius dropped the season series to Fairfield for the first time since the 2001-02 season… Canisius finished with a losing record in home games for the first time since 2000-01… Canisius had 30 bench points, the most since recording 30 against Albany on Dec. 2… Canisius loses for just the second time in the last nine years on Senior Day… Fairfield outscored Canisius 28-10 in the paint… Canisius made 11 3-pointers, topping double digits for the fifth time this season… Durham matched a career high with her 12 points and scored in double figures for the fourth time this season. The freshman is 7-for-12 from behind the arc in the last three games

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Players Mentioned

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

#22 Ashley Durham: G; 5' 5"; Freshman

#12 Whitney Ellenor: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

#35 Ellie Radke: F; 6' 0"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

#22 Ashley Durham
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: G

#12 Whitney Ellenor
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F

#35 Ellie Radke
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F