Two for the books: Lewis sets MAAC, Fairfield scoring records
Fairfield’s Sam Lewis knew she was feeling good on the court last weekend but had no idea she was etching her name in the record books.
Lewis started her weekend with a career-high 21 points Friday night as the Stags won on the road at Siena. Her previous gamehigh was 14 points in a 2018 game against LIU Brooklyn.
It turned out Friday was just the warmup.
With the MAAC playing back-to-back games this winter due to COVID-19 scheduling changes, the Stags were right back on the court Saturday against the same Siena team.
Lewis, a graduate senior, went off in Saturday’s game, scoring a Fairfield women’s single-game record 39 points while draining a MAAC-record 11 3-pointers.
The 11 3s are the most by any women’s basketball player in Division I this season.
Her 39 points broke Sabra Wrice’s school scoring record set in 2007. Along with the MAAC record, the 11 3-pointers tied for the sixth most in an NCAA women’s basketball game going back to 1988.
“It’s been a while since I felt that good. Honestly, I kind of don’t even remember doing it,” Lewis said. “As a shooter, playing backto-back games in the same gym definitely helped. I was comfortable with the rims. I had no idea I broke any records until after the game. I had no idea how many I had made as the game was going on. My teammates were all so awesome and they told me.”
For her efforts, Lewis was named the MAAC
player of the week and the College Sports Madness National Mid-Major player of the week.
Lewis reached the milestones with incredible efficiency, shooting 14 of 17 from the floor and 11 of 13 from beyond the arc. During one stretch in the middle of the game she drained nine straight 3s.
She has shown glimpses of her potential before but had only scored 11 points and three 3s this season before her breakout weekend.
“We recruited Sam as a shooter and saw flashes of this in high school and AAU but I didn’t see her coming out and hitting 11 of 13 3s,” Fairfield women’s coach Joe Frager said. “She played really well Friday and that success led to Saturday. Once you get a hot hand you don’t want to walk away from that, you have to ride that wave. She was in such a rhythm and playing so well, I didn’t want to take her out.”
Lewis played a careerhigh 36 minutes Saturday despite her team carrying a large lead late in the contest.
Frager and his staff knew Lewis was approaching the MAAC record for 3s and left her in to try for it, even though nobody told Lewis.
“The game was in hand and you have to consider taking her out from a sportsmanship standpoint. It’s a fine line,” Frager said. “My assistant told me she was getting near the record for 3s, so, we kept her in.”
Frager said Lewis has done everything the coaching staff as asked during her time at Fairfield, and seeing her have a huge night was rewarding for everyone.
“We have asked her to take on so many roles over the four years,” Frager said. “She’s come off the bench, she’s started games and there have been stretches where she’s not played much. She always rolled with everything. You like to see a kid like her have success.”
In her first three seasons at Fairfield, Lewis played in at least 24 games each season, averaging just 2.1 points.
Lewis has started all four games for Fairfield this season and after her outburst at Siena leads the team with 17.9 points a game.
With 16 3s over the weekend, Lewis is now tied for second nationally with 4.75 3-pointers per game.
Lewis credits hours shooting with her father this offseason at a rundown hoop near her home in Elkridge, Maryland.
“After lockdown, it was a difficult first month with all the gyms closed,” Lewis said. “My dad and I went out driving and found an old hoop at a school. I would shoot and my dad would rebound for a couple hours every day. I had nothing else to do so I was always either working out or shooting.”
Frager said over the past four years when he is leaving his office at the end of the night and hears people shooting in the gym, Lewis is always among them.
All those hours of work came to fruition with the game of a lifetime.
“It was all pretty special. It has been a crazy few days. I am hearing from a lot of friends,” Lewis said. “It’s something I never expected or thought about. All that hard work paid off, all those shots. It’s pretty cool.”