14 2012-13
Stags Women’s Basketball
2012-13
SeasonOutlook
E
verything clicked for the Fairfield women's basketball team last season.
The Stags went 24-9 overall for their best finish in more than a decade,
advanced to the MAAC Championship final, and secured its second-ever
WNIT berth.
In addition, Fairfield finished the year ranked fifth nationally in scoring
defense, allowing 52.0 points per game. The Stags were also ranked 18th in
the nation in turnovers per game, committing just 13.9 per contest.
Fairfield returns eight Stags from that squad, but it will be without two of the
top players in program history in Taryn Johnson and Desiree Pina who graduat-
ed. Last season, Johnson and Pina combined for 42.9 percent of the Stags'
offense, scoring 763 points between. Johnson led the MAAC in field goal per-
centage (.545) and was Fairfield’s leading rebounder (7.7/g) and leading scor-
er (12.4/g). Pina, the Stags’ floor general who never missed a game in her
entire career, was the second-leading scorer (11.0/g), dished out 113 assists,
and averaged 3.8 rebounds per game.
While the presence of Johnson and Pina will be missed, Head Coach Joe
Frager and his staff will rely on his veterans, which includes senior captains
Katelyn Linney and Brittany MacFarlane, the 2012 MAAC Sixth Player of the
Year, and junior captain Alexys Vazquez to keep Fairfield clicking. The Stags
also welcome four newcomers in junior college transfer Casey Grace and tal-
ented rookies Kristin Schatzlein, Lizzy Ball, and Christa Scognamiglio who will
all compete for playing time.
The Backcourt
For the last three seasons, Katelyn Linney has been a fixture in the Stags'
backcourt, averaging 35.3 minutes per game. She has appeared in 97 games
with 96 starts, including 91 consecutively before stepping aside on Senior Day.
Linney became a 1,000-point scorer during the Stags' WNIT game, bringing her
career average to 10.3 points per contest. She also has rewritten the Fairfield
record books with her three-point prowess. She has knocked down 208 career
three-pointers, which is second in program history and holds the single season
record for three-point field goals attempted (242).
Junior Alexys Vazquez is coming off a breakout season in 2011-12 as she
was the national leader in three-point field goal percentage for nearly the entire
month of February and the beginning of March. Vazquez shot 42.7 percent (61-
for-143) from long range for the season, averaging 7.3 points per game. Frager
will rely on Vazquez's deadly accuracy and ability to shoot from anywhere on the
floor this year.
Last season, Christelle Akon-Akech was crucial off the bench for the Stags,
including down the stretch where she posted at least 12 minutes a game in 16
of the last 20 contests. She averaged 11.7 minutes per game, grabbed 50
rebounds, and posted 16 steals. The junior, who is one of the most athletic
players on the team, will be counted on for her ability to play at numerous posi-
tions on the floor, whether on the win or at the point.
Felicia DaCruz appeared in 28 games with three starts during her freshman
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Fairfield, coming off one of its best seasons ever, looks to continue their forward trend.
