FAIRFIELD, CT — The Iona University women's basketball team fell to league leading, Fairfield 63-46 on Saturday afternoon. A one-point game at halftime, the Gaels were unable to halt a third quarter run by the Stags at Mahoney Arena.
 
Senior Ella Fajardo posted a game-high 17 points for the Maroon & Gold. Senior Erin Leary added eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a block and steal on the defensive end.

THE RUNDOWN

Scoring was slow to start the contest as the Stags only held a 5-4 advantage through the first four minutes of action. Fairfield broke the game open with an 8-0 run to take a 13-4 advantage with 3:52 left to go in the frame. Iona stayed in the fight as Fajardo and Leary knocked down back-to-back three pointers to make it a one possession game. From there the two teams locked in on the defensive end, as both offenses were held scoreless in the final three minutes of the first quarter.
 
The Stags broke the scoring drought with a 5-0 opening run to begin the second quarter. Iona cut into the run run on an old fashioned three-point play from sophomore Zoey Ward. Rookie Chloe Vasquez then hit a driving layup to make it a three-point game with 7:24 to go. The Stags would continue to keep pace in the middle stretch of the quarter. Fajardo jumpstarted a 7-2 closing stretch with a triple and turnaround jumper before senior Judith Gomez capped the first half with a running hook shot to bring the score to 25-24.
 
Out of the halftime break, scoring stalled once again as the Stags grabbed the opening basket before Vasquez got Iona on the board with a turnaround jumper in the lane with 6:49 to go. From there it was all Fairfield with a 14-0 margin to end the quarter to take a 41-26 lead.

Iona started the final stanza strong with a 7-2 opening run as a pull up jumper from junior Amaya B. Evans made it a 10-point game at 43-33 with 8:19 to go. Fairfield cut the momentum with a seven-point run over the next 2:15 to extend the lead. The closing five minutes saw both teams score 13 points aside as the Stags came away with the win and regular season series sweep over the Gaels.

IONA PERFORMERS

• Fajardo recorded her 11^th game in double figures for the season. She shot 7-of-12 from the field including 3-of-4 from three-point range.
• Leary added eight points, four rebounds, two assists to go with a steal and a block on the defensive end.
• Gomez posted six points and tied Ward for the team lead with six rebounds.

THE OPPONENT

• Kaety L'Amoreaux registered a team-high 14 points to go with a game-high seven rebounds and four assists for the Stags.
• Cyanne Coe finished with a team-high 14 points for the Stags.
• Emina Selimovic also recorded double figures with 10 points.

TEAM STATS

• Both teams were near even on field goal percentage for the game with Fairfield shooting 43% to Iona's 42% from the field.
• The Gaels had the better percentage from distance at 33% but only five made three-pointers to the Stags 26% and seven made triples.
• Fairfield won the rebounding battle over Iona with a 33-26 advantage on the glass.
• Iona committed 20 turnovers while Fairfield committed 15 on the day.

UP NEXT

The Gaels are back at the Hynes Athletic Center next weekend for a two-game homestand. First up is a matchup against Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, February 6.