No. 25 Fairfield rallies to beat Niagara in MAAC title game

Field Level Media|published: Sat 16th March, 19:16 2024

Mar 15, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; A NCAA Wilson evo NXT official game basketball with the Pac-12 Conference logo at T-Mobile Arena. credits: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

No. 25 Fairfield scored the first nine points of overtime en route to a 70-62 victory over Niagara to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship game in Atlantic City, N.J.

The victory gives the top-seeded Stags (31-1) the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Fairfield has won 29 consecutive games, the second-longest streak behind top-ranked South Carolina (32-0).

Janelle Brown scored 15 points for the Stags before fouling out in regulation. Kaety L'Amoreaux added 12 points, Emina Selimovic recorded 11 points and 11 rebounds and Izabela Nicoletti-Leite also had 11 points for Fairfield, which will be making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.

Amelia Strong had 14 points and nine rebounds for second-seeded Niagara (20-13). The Purple Eagles led by seven points after three quarters before Fairfield rallied to force the extra session.

The MAAC title game appearance was the first since 1997 for Niagara.

—Field Level Media