FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The nationally-ranked and MAAC Champions Fairfield University Women's Basketball team saw their name appear in the NCAA Tournament bracket as they drew a 13-seed and will take on four-seed Indiana on Saturday at 1:30pm on ESPN2. This will be Fairfield's sixth appearance in the NCAA Championship Tournament and their second in the last three years.
"There was a lot of excitement in the room tonight seeing out name pop up to play in the Big Dance," Head Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "We're excited to get ready and prepare for the week ahead and figure out the plan. It's a team and a league I'm familiar with so I'm excited to get back to Big Ten country."
The Stags will bring the nation's second-highest winning percentage and win streak into the tournament as they compiled an outstanding 31-1 record which includes 29-straight victories. The 31 wins is the second-most in conference history and the second-most in the country. The Stags have won a MAAC record 29-straight contests including claiming the program's fifth MAAC Championship during the weekend.
The Stags completed a perfect conference regular season becoming the second MAAC team to ever go 20-0. They added three more wins to that total by running the table in the MAAC Championship Tournament, culminating in an overtime victory against Niagara in the Championship Game.
Fairfield will also bring the MAAC's Player, Rookie, and Coach of the Year to the national stage. Janelle Brown, the conference's Player of the Year and Championship MVP, is the nation's most efficient guard in the country leading all guards with a .578 field goal percentage. Meghan Andersen, the MAAC Rookie of the Year, has had one of the best freshman campaigns in the country and was the first freshman ever named a Mid-Major Player of the Year Semifinalist and was one of 40 players to appear on the National Player of the Year Watch List.
The leader of the helm and MAAC Coach of the Year, Coach Carly has brought the program to new historic heights with their historic 31-1 record and program's first-ever national ranking. She was chosen as one of five finalists for the Mid-Major Coach of the Year award.
Four-seed Indiana will bring a 24-5 overall after falling to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament. Mackenzie Holmes is the team's leading scorer at 20.0 points per game and rebounder at 6.9 caroms per contest.
The winner of the First Round matchup will advance to play the winner of the 5/12 matchup between Oklahoma and Florida Gulf Coast.