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Canisius University Athletics

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Athina Lexa looks for a pass against #25 Fairfield on March 15, 2024
Anthony Militello
64
Canisius Canis 17-14,11-9 MAAC
77
Winner Fairfield Fairf 30-1,20-0 MAAC
Canisius Canis
17-14,11-9 MAAC
64
Final
77
Fairfield Fairf
30-1,20-0 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Canisius Canis 9 15 16 24 64
Fairfield Fairf 18 22 20 17 77

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Season Ends in MAAC Semifinal Round

MAAC Player of the Year Janelle Brown scored 19 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists and MAAC Rookie of the Year Meghan Anderson added 16 points to help lead top-seeded Fairfield to a 77-64 win over No. 5 seed Canisius Friday morning in the semifinal round of the 2024 Hercules Tires MAAC Women's Basketball Championship in Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Stags improved to 30-1 on the year with their MAAC-record 28th consecutive victory, while the Golden Griffins see their season end with a record of 17-14. The 17 wins for the Griffs this season are the most for the program since the 2008-09 campaign.
 
MAAC Sixth Player of the Year Athina Lexa was one of three Canisius players to post double-digits in the scoring column on Friday with her team-high 19 points. Sophomore Brooklyn Thrash was good for 12 points and senior Giana Hernandez-Boulden added 11 to the Blue and Gold's effort. Hernandez-Boulden grabbed five rebounds, as did sophomore Sisi Eleko, and graduate student Grace Heeps led the Blue and Gold with four assists.

For the game, Fairfield shot 42.4 percent (25-for-59), with 11 of those field goals coming from beyond the 3-point line. The Griffs shot 37.0 percent (20-for-54) from the floor and turned 16 Fairfield turnovers into 16 points.

GAME RECAP
The Stags controlled the tempo from the starting, taking an 18-9 lead into the second quarter after the Fairfield hit on seven of its first 16 shots, while holding the Griffs to a 3-for-13 shooting clip in the contest's opening 10 minutes. Fairfield opened up a 12-point lead in the first 1:07 of the second quarter after the Stags scored five of the first seven points in the frame, highlighted by a 3-point field goal from Anderson that made the score 23-11.

Canisius rallied before halftime, scoring five of the final seven points in the opening 20 minutes, to trim the Stags' halftime lead to 40-24, but in the second half, Fairfield continued its hot-shooting performance, hitting on 44.4 percent (12-of-27) of its shots after intermission, with five of those buckets coming from 3-point land. With the win, Fairfield advances to Saturday's championship game, the program's 12th title game appearance.

POSTGAME COMMENTS:  
GAME NOTES:
• Canisius was making its first MAAC Tournament semifinal round appearance since 2009.
• Canisius is now 3-3 against Fairfield in the MAAC Tournament and 1-1 against the Stags in the semifinal round. Friday's game marked the first time the two schools met in the conference's postseason event since the 2009 semifinal game in Albany, N.Y.
• Lexa's 19 points on Friday allowed her to end the season with 10-or more points in the scoring column in six of the Griffs' final seven contests of the season.
• Thrash scored in double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 17 through Feb. 24.
• Graduate student Jane McCauley attempted her first two free throws of the season in the fourth quarter and she made both of them.

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