The Stags are 4-1 this season

The Fairfield University women's basketball game continues its season-long four-game road trip at Villanova University this evening. The Stags are 4-1 overall on the year, while the Wildcats are 4-3. The contest is the Stags second consecutive game in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, having defeated Lafayette 52-39 on Sunday.

John Cummings will have the call of the game on the internet feed of WVOF 88.5 FM. Villanova offers a video stream of the contest, as well as LiveStats , via its athletic website .

The meeting marks the 11th time that Fairfield and Villanova will play in women's basketball, with the Wildcats holding a perfect 10-0 mark in the series. The first meeting came in the opening round of the 1996 Villanova PNC Bank Classic, with the Wildcats earning a 74-68 victory. The squads played a home-and-home series in the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 season, with the Wildcats winning 58-45 and 71-60. After a year hiatus, the series resume at the 2002 Villanova Christmas Classic Championship game, an 82-44 win. The teams met in a home-and-home format over the next six season, with the last meeting coming on November 22, 2008 at the Arena at Harbor Yard, a 61-45 Villanova victory.

The first national statistical rankings from the NCAA were published on Monday, encompassing games through November 28th and the Stags were well represented in both team and individual category. The Stags are ranked 12th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 47.4 points per game, while the squad ranks 22nd nationally in field goal percentage defense. Desiree Pina is fifth in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.0, while the team is 61st at 0.91. Katelyn Linney is third in the nation in three-point field goals made per game (3.8) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (57.6).

The Stags are playing just their second road game of the season - their sixth overall - and are 1-0 in their red uniforms. Under Joe Frager the Stags are 29-21 in road games during the regular season, with a 17-11 mark against non-conference foes.

Fairfield held Lafayette to just 39 points on Sunday, the third time this season the Stags have held an opponent under 40 points in a game. Opponents are shooting just 32.7 percent against Fairfield, the lowest mark among all MAAC schools. Behind the perimeter Fairfield is even more effective defensively, holding foes to a 25.9 percent success rate - seventh in the nation - with George Mason going 0-7 from downtown. The Stags have forced at least 12 turnovers by each of its opponents, with a season-high 20 from Lafayette, and are forcing 15.4 per game through the first five games.

Fun Facts

The Stags have had at least one double-digit scorer in all five games, but have only had more than one in two games (Quinnipiac & Cornell) ... Fairfield has also handed out more assists than its opponent in every game this season ... Joelle Nawrocki has a steal in every game this season and at least three rebounds in each contest ... Taryn Johnson knocked down her 100th career free throw at Lafayette and has 102 for her career.

Posted On: 12-02-2010 10:12 AM

Volume: $vol Number: $num