No. 25 Fairfield women secure 5751 win over Rider

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) >> Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 19 points, including seven in the last 43 seconds, and No. 25 Fairfield pulled out a 57-51 win over eighthseeded Rider in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday, running the Stags’ winning streak to 27.

Fairfield (29-1) matched Marist (2011) for the longest streak in MAAC history and has a chance to break it in the semifinals on Friday against the winner of fourth-seeded Manhattan and fifth-seeded Canisius.

It was a struggle for the Stags, who beat Rider 8354 in their season-ending game and 67-44 earlier. They were on track for their worst offensive game of the season until a 10-0 run over the middle of the fourth quarter gave them enough cushion to hold on.

Just after Rider’s Jessika Schiffer hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 40, Karly Fischer made a layup for the Stags. Meghan Andersen followed with a layup and Emina Selimovic had a short jumper in the paint and a layup. Janelle Brown then made a driving layup for a 50-40 lead with 3:27 to play.

The Broncos had four turnovers and missed two shots in the drought that lasted 4:14. Rider then scored six points before L’Amoreaux came through in the last minute.

Brown, the MAAC player of the year, scored 16 points and Andersen, the rookie of the year, had 10 with eight rebounds.

Taylor Langan scored 12 points for Rider (10-21) and Schiffer had 11.

Fairfield shot 37.3% (22 of 59) and 4 of 28 behind the arc (14.3%). Forcing 21 turnovers and grabbing 15 offensive rebounds helped produce 16 more attempts. Rider was 7 of 15 on 3s and shot 42% overall.

After taking a 38-27 lead early in the third quarter Fairfield missed nine straight shots and 15 of 16 before the game-winning run.