Box ScoreAlbany, NY - Meka Werts knocked down four three-pointers and Megan Caskin had her first career double-double to power the Fairfield University women’s basketball team to a 67-52 win over Siena College in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Basketball Championship at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The Stags, the number three-seed, improve to 22-8 on the year with the win, while the sixth-seed Saints end the year at 11-18.
In the fourth opening game meeting between the two teams at the tournament in as many years the Stags fell behind 13-9 with 12:51 to play in the first half. Fairfield scored five straight points, on a field goal from Caskin and a three-pointer from Werts to take a14-13 advantage with 9:58 to play. The lead was short lived however, as Heather Stec converted a lay-up for the Saints 19 seconds later, for the advantage.
Fairfield would rattle off the games next nine points to take a 23-15 lead, which it would not relinquish. The Stags held Siena without a field goal for seven minutes during the run, and would lead by as many as 11 points, 29-18, with 1:27 left in the first half. Laura Menty ended the half with a pair of free throws to cut the Stags halftime lead to 29-20.
The Stags defense was the story in the second half as well, not allowing a basket for the first 3:19 of the period, as the Stags scored six points to open a 15-point advantage (35-20). The Stags continued the run, pushing the lead to 20-points, 48-28, when Werts knocked down a three-pointer with 11:43 to play. The Stags would not let the Saints any closer then 12 points the rest of the way, to advance to the semifinals.
Werts finished the game with 18 points, shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-7 from behind the arc. Caskin dished out a career-high 12 assists, in playing 37 minutes, without committing a turnover. She also scored 10 points, for just the second time in her career, hitting her first three shots of the game, and 3-4 from the free throw line.
Baendu Lowenthal shot 7-10 from the field for the Stags, finishing with 16 points. Stephanie Geehan made her second start after missing nine games, played 27 minutes, with six points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Stags committed a season-low nine turnovers in the contest, while forcing 12 from the Saints. Fairfield shot 45.6 percent from the field for the game and 46.2 percent from behind the arc. Siena shot 30.6 percent for the game, after a 25.9 percent effort in the first half. Siena was 5-15 from downtown and 9-13 at the free throw line. Siena out rebounded Fairfield 42-36 on the game, but the Stags held a 21-19 advantage in the second half of play.
Siena was led by the 11 points of Menty, who shot 3-10 from the field. The Saints senior had scored 31 and 28 against Fairfield in the team’s regular season meetings. Heather Stec led all players with 10 rebounds, while Shondaya Burrell scored 10 points and had eight boards.
The Stags advance to the semifinals for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Fairfield will take on second-seeded Iona at 9:30 a.m. The game can be seen live on MSG TV.