Stags set for MAAC tourney after season of setbacks

Joe Frager recognizes the absurdity that comes in response when he tells people he was leading virtual practices from his basement.

“It’s been really, really weird,” the head coach of Fairfield University women’s basketball team said. “It’s been surreal to be honest with you.”

Thursday marked the first time in 10 days that Frager and his coaching staff were able to coach in person with the team afterquarantining due to contact tracing.

Through the approval of the program’s compliance staff, Casey Smith, the team’s director of basketball operations, ran practices in person with players while all four coaches followed along through Zoom on a monitor. If Smith huddled the girls around a whiteboard, the players knew to duck down low enough so the coaches on the monitor could also see what was going on.

For the players, it was just another week of pushing through the uncontrollable virus that has already blown up their season in every way possible.

Thirteen of the 15 players on the Stags’ roster have at some point this season contracted COVID-19. They’ve had games canceled left and right and when asked on Thursday,

Frager couldn’t remember the last time the team had been all together in person.

But despite every set back, Fairfield (10-4 overall, 9-3 MAAC) is focused on competing next week in the MAAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 Manhattan (10-6, 9-3) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“If we’re not going down to Atlantic City to do everything we can to win, then we should put the uniforms away right now and we should put the sneakers away. But that’s not what these kids are all about,” Frager said. “We can feel sorry for ourselves but nobody else is going to feel sorry for us. Certainly, our opponents won’t. So, we’re just going to deal with the hand we’re dealt with and we’re going to do the very best we can.”

Last year, the Stags played one of the final games in the country before the shutdown of the sports world on March 12 in a 72-56 win over Siena in the tournament’s quarterfinals.

“Last year it was just surreal,” Frager said. “You’re able to get the win and then probably about five minutes after the game ends, you’re told that it’s over with and you got to get back to the hotel and gather your things and go home. It is pretty amazing that we’re back here and that we were able to, as a conference, sustain all season long and get back to Atlantic City.”

Due to multiple cancellations, the Stags were only able to play two nonconference games before starting MAAC play in December. After a 22-day shut down in January due to positive COVID cases within the team, the Stags earned Frager his 100th career win at Alumni Hall in a 67-61 victory over Saint Peter’s on Feb. 12.

Forward Lou Lopez-Senechal, who is second in the MAAC at 17.0 points per game, was a unanimous All-MAAC first-team choice. Grad-student Katie Armstrong is a consistent force in the post for the Stags, averaging 10.9 ppg and a team-high 6.6 rebounds. Armstrong was named to the All-MAAC second team.

With the constant uncertainty surrounding the season, LopezSenechal said she’s seen herself grow in learning how to slow down and take one day one at a time.

“The fact that in the beginning of the season many times we were getting ready for a game and the day before, in a zoom call, the game is canceled and that’s very frustrating when the whole team is putting in the work,” she said. “But the fact that it happened many times, it helped me to just start thinking better about it and not really stress and take everything one at a time. I’ve been more mature in learning how to not get frustrated easily and just being grateful that we’re here. I don’t think I take things for granted anymore.”

Thursday’s practice marked the first time in weeks the team had 10 players available. Frager said come the MAAC Tournament next week, they most likely will still be missing a few players due to quarantine.

But despite all the shutdowns, the cancellations and postponement,s and the virtual practices, Frager is just proud. Proud of his team for pushing through it all and not once waving the white flag.

“I’ve coached for a very long time, 24 years as a college coach, 12 years as a high school coach, and I’ve been proud of a lot of teams but I’ve never been any more proud of any group than this current one dealing with what they’ve dealt with,” he said. “I’m really proud of our players. I’m really proud of our staff. And regardless of what the results are down in Atlantic City, I’m still going to be tremendously proud of this group.”