Fairfield scored the first five points and never gave up the lead, as the Canisius College women's basketball team lost 60-51 in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener in the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday. Canisius is now 4-8 on the season.

Freshman Jamie Ruttle had a career-high 19 points while freshman Jen Morabito had 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals while shooting 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. Freshman Courtney VandeBovenkamp recorded seven rebounds while senior Micayla Drysdale had four assists.

"We had a lack of focus to start and put ourselves in a hole," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We gave Fairfield a lot of points off turnovers and offensive rebounds. We dug down and fought back, but it wasn't nearly enough today."

Canisius turned the ball over on its first four possessions and Katelyn Linney made four 3-pointers in the opening 12 minutes as the Stags built a 26-13 lead. Canisius closed the half on a 9-3 run, getting six points from Ruttle and a 3-pointer from Morabito to make it 29-22 at the half.

The Griffs carried that momentum over to the second half, tying the game after a 14-7 run. Two free throws from Morabito and a 3-pointers from sophomore Ashley Durham tied the game at 36-36. With the score tied at 38-38 after a putback from freshman Jen Lennox, the Griffs had one field goal during the next 10 minutes, as the Stags pulled away and went up 50-40. A three-point play from Ruttle and 3-pointer from Durham made it 50-46, but Desiree Pina answered with a deep 3-pointer to stop the run. Canisius made it 55-51 on a 3-pointer from Morabito, but Linney made five of six free throws in the final minute to put the game away.

Linney led Fairfield with 19 points while Pina had 11 points and Laura Vetra had 10 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Taryn Johnson pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds with four blocks while Brittany MacFarlane had 11 rebounds.

Canisius concludes its three-game homestand on Tuesday, when the Golden Griffins host Saint Peter's. Game time in the Koessler Athletic Center is set for 7 p.m.  

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 497 games on a 3-pointer by Morabito in the first half... Fairfield has won the last three meetings between the teams overall as well as the last three meetings in Buffalo... Morabito now has scored 16 or more points in four straight games, shooting 55.6 percent (15-for-27) from behind the arc in that stretch... Morabito is the first freshman since the program went to the Division I level (1986-87) to score 16 or more points in four straight games... Durham returned to the court after missing five games with a knee injury. The sophomore had six points in 16 minutes off the bench... Drysdale has a 1.89 assist-turnover ratio in the last seven games... VandeBovenkamp has six or more rebounds in four straight games... Ruttle is averaging 12 points in the last four games... The 19 points by Ruttle are the most by a Canisius freshman in a MAAC opener... Fairfield had 19 offensive rebounds in the game, leading to 14 second-chance points... Canisius committed 19 turnovers, leading to 18 points off turnovers for the Stags... Canisius shot 40 percent or better in a loss for the third time this season.