Pirates topple Fairfield, 74-44

Date: November 9, 2019

By: Madi Travisano

Fairfield came out strong with senior Katie Armstrong leading the charge. Yet not for long as the Pirates were trailing early in the first, but senior Barbara Johnson made two layups to give the Pirates the lead. The Hall exploded after that with points from senior Shadeen Samuels and junior Desiree Elmore to extend that lead.

 

Then another senior Alexis Lewis with a late three in the first to seal the deal with the Pirates leading the Stags 24-9 at the end of the first quarter. The experience from these older Pirates really helped them take control of the game early on to take that into the second quarter.  

 

Johnson once again helped the Pirates get some momentum as she extended the lead to 26-9 at the beginning of the second. Pirates continue with foul trouble as Selena Philoxy recorded two personal fouls. Saw in the second, Pirates struggling offensively while still being able to hold their own while sitting on the lead they had from the first. On the Fairfield side, they once again continued with foul trouble throughout the second quarter and the Pirates continued to capitalize on that.  

 

Yet both teams had foul trouble in the first half, as on the Pirates side Samuels already had two personals and as a team Fairfield had five to end the first. But the Pirates really took advantages of the that by being 10-12 from the line at the end of the first half. 

 

The Pirates came out strong in the third with Elmore and Johnson getting the momentum going once again. Fairfield also continued to struggle as the Lopez-Senechal, the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year in the MAAC, had four fouls. A lot of little mistakes were being traded back and forth from the Stags and the Pirates, but a shift from the Pirates had them raining threes to close out the third quarter.

 

Freshmen Mya Jackson and Lauren Park-Lane stepped up for the Hall offensively as they ended the third leading 57-37. Going into the fourth, Jackson had another three right out of the gate with Smith following behind with a three of her own. The Pirates continued their lead as they capitalized once again on the Fairfield foul trouble. The Hall continued their dominance as they ended the game 74-44 and another win on their season as they move to 2-0.  

 

Coach Lauren Defalco had some points to say about people like Mya Jackson and Jasmine Smith stepping up for the Pirates today, “It was honestly our bench, and that’s what we need, we are about eight or nine girls deep, and our bench really came in with Mya and Jasmine, that’s what is going to make us tough at the end of the year because we have eight or nine girls that we can rely on.” Continuing on to the veterans of the team, she mentioned how they had a meeting with their four starters yesterday and told them “they had to set the tone and they set it defensively for the team today.” 

 

Overall, the experienced players on this Pirates team really stepped up in this game. There was a lot of versatility as you saw women like Elmore, Lewis, and Johnson getting the momentum going for the Pirates and setting the pace for the entire game. The Pirates look ahead to their third game of their four-home game stand on Tuesday, November 12, tipping off at 7 p.m. Mat Mlodzinski and Ben Harris will be on the call as they take on VCU so make sure to tune in to 89.5 WSOU FM.  

 

Madi Travisano can be reached at madisyn.travisano@student.shu.edu.

 

Posted in: Sports, WSOU, Women's Basketball