Box Score Box Score

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A 25-5 Fairfield scoring run over a 10-minute span in the late part of the first half proved to be the difference as the Big Red women's basketball team fell to the Stags, 71-61, this evening at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn. Cornell fought its way back in the second half, but could not come all the way back as it fell to 0-3 on the season. With the win, Fairfield improves to 3-0.

The Big Red had its best offensive outing of the season with four players registering double-figures, led by Stephanie Long's career-high 16 points. Maka Anyanwu came off the bench late in the first half and played spectacularly, going 6-for-8 for 12 points and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds in 22 minutes. Shelby Lyman and Spencer Lane registered nearly identical stat lines with 10 points, three assists and two rebounds apiece.

Fairfield was led by Katelyn Linney's 23 points. The sophomore guard connected on an impressive 8-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Taryn Johnson registered an 11-point, 10 rebound double-double and Katie Cizynski finished with 11 points.

The Stags shot over 50 percent from the floor (27-of-53) and 3-point range (8-of-16), but Cornell wasn't far behind, shooting a season high 41.4 percent overall and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Fairfield held the slight edge in rebounds (36-30) and forced 17 Big Red turnovers with nine steals.

“I think we showed a lot of resilience in the second half,” said head coach Dayna Smith. “I also thought Maka did a great job of going in off the bench and executing the game plan. She brought an energy that we needed.”

After several turnovers by both squads in the opening moments of the game, the scoring came fast and furious with the teams trading baskets on nearly every possession. Linney got the offense started for the Stags with a 3-pointer just under two minutes in, but Lyman answered right back with a trey on Cornell's next trip down the court.

A jumper by Laura Verta was nullified when Lane found Long cutting through the lane on an inbounds play and the freshman hit an open layup to knot the game at 5-5.

A pair of Fairfield layups where sandwiched around a jumper by Lyman from the left elbow and on Cornell's next trip down the court Long nailed a runner in the lane to make it a 9-9 contest with 15:30 to play.

That's when the offense turned cold for the Big Red.

Joelle Nawrocki started a 7-0 scoring run by the home team when she shook her man and made a wide open 3-pointer from right wing. A jumper from the elbow by Lane eventually ended the run four minutes later and made it a five-point contest at the 11:23 mark.

Another lapse in offense led to a 10-0 Fairfield run, but once again Lane made a spectacular inbounds pass and hit Clare Fitzpartick under the basket for the easy bucket. Moments later, Taylor Flynn converted one free throw to make it a 26-14 game with just over five minutes to play, but three buckets by Cizynski and a jumper from Linney put the home team up by 20.

The Big Red got an offensive spark in the closing moments of the half as Anyanwu converted back-to-back layups and a Stags turnover resulted in a layup by Long to send the teams into the half with Fairfield leading, 34-20.

Cornell continued to battle coming out of the break and the teams traded baskets before a layup from Anyanwu and a Lyman trey cut the Stags lead to 11 points, 44-33, with just under 15 minutes to play. Both teams continued to hit their shots for the next four minutes before five straight points by Desiree Pina pushed the Fairfield lead to 58-41 with just over eight minutes to play.

The Big Red cut the lead back to 12 points with just over four minutes to play when a layup from Lane was followed by a 3-pointer from Aspen Chandler, but seven unanswered points put Fairfield up, 71-52 at the 2:14 mark.

Cornell responded with back-to-back treys from Long and Chander to cut the lead to 13 points just 30 seconds later, but that was as close as it got as Fairfield took the 77-61 victory.

The Big Red is back in action on Monday, Nov. 22 when it welcomes Winston-Salem State to Newman Arena at 7 p.m.