Stags Defeat Purple Eagles in MAAC Championship Quarterfinals
MAAC Sports
ALBANY, N.Y. – Fairfield All-Rookie Team selection Casey Smith led the Stags past the Niagara recording 14 points and adding 8 rebounds and 3 assists. In the second round matchup, No. 3 Fairfield defeated to the No. 6 Niagara 65-57 Friday night in the 2015 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals.
Samantha Cooper connected for 12 points on five of seven shooting and six rebounds. Felicia DaCruz added 10 points and 9 assists.
Niagara began the game up 4-0 on two layups by Taylor McKay. The Stags answered back getting ahead by double digits at the 10:07 mark extending the score to 18-8 on a free throw by Kelsey Carey. Fairfield would hold onto the lead through the half as Niagara slowly crept back into the game and with 25 seconds remaining a McKay free throw would knot the score at 26-26. Fairfield would retake the lead on a pair of free throws from Casey Smith followed by a Kelly Van Leeuwen layup to tie the game 28-28 going into halftime. In a game that saw seven lead changes and six ties, the Purple Eagles and Stags battled through the first ten minutes of the second half with the Stags taking the lead for good at the 11:17 mark on a Cooper jumper for a two point lead, 40-38. Fairfield would take a seven point lead after a Kelsey Carey layup with 9:47 left to play. Fairfield took a 12 point advantage into the final five minutes after a jumper by Felicia DaCruz at 5:02 brought the contest to 55-43. Niagara would continue to battle gaining ground to get within two points of Fairfield with 0:48 remaining on the clock to bring the score to 58-56 but could not get in front of the Stags. Fairfield would finish with an eight point advantage defeating the Purple Eagles 65-57.
Van Leeuwen would finish with a career high 19 points on seven of 12 from the field and five of seven from beyond the arc. Taylor McKay contributed 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Fairfield will face the Marist in the semifinals on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
The 2015 MAAC Basketball Championships continue at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. March 5-9. Tickets can be purchased here.
The MAAC will host the NCAA Women's Basketball Sweet Sixteen Albany Regional at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Tickets can be purchased here.
For the full women’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.