By R.L. Bynum
Fairfield (3–0) vs. No. 11 North Carolina (2–1)
When: 6 p.m. ET Saturday
Where: Michelob Ultra Arena (home of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces), Las Vegas
Event: WBCA Challenge (Carolina lost to No. 3 UCLA 78–60 Thursday in the first of the two games.)
TV: ESPN+ (streaming on ESPN app and here): Eric Frede play-by-play, Christy Thomaskutty analyst
Radio: Streams on the Varsity Network app; Matt Krause play-by-play
Massey Ratings: Fairfield No. 49, UNC No. 23
Bart Torvik: Fairfield No. 44, UNC No. 14
Warren Nolan NET rankings: Fairfield No. 57, UNC No. 20
Series: This is the first meeting
Head coaches: Courtney Banghart (381–168 record in 19 seasons; 127–65 record in seven seasons at UNC), Carly Thibault-DuDonis (77–22 in four seasons, all at Fairfield)
Scouting the Stags
Projected starters:
— Kaety L’Amoreaux (top photo) | 5–6 junior guard | 20.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 0.7 of a block, 1.3 steals, 42.2 FG%, 32.0 3P%, 15–15 FT
— Preseason All-MAAC First Team who has 100 career 3-pointers
— Jillian Huerter | 6–0 junior guard | 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steal, 26.3 FG%, 21.7 3P%, 10–10 FT
— Has 88 career 3-pointers
— Lauren Beach | 6–1 graduate forward | 3.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 4–4 FG, 3–4 FT
— Led team in rebounding against South Florida with nine
— Cyanne Coe | 6–0 sophomore forward | 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.7 of an assist, 0.3 of a block, 64.3 FG%, 42.9 FT%
— Preseason All-MAAC Third Team
— Meghan Andersen | 6–1 sophomore forward | 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 blocks, 2.0 steals, 51.1 FG%, 42.9 3P%, 81.3 FT%
— National and MAAC Player of the week after back-to-back 30-point games
Fairfield results:
— 75–63 Nov. 5 win at Villanova
— 88–60 Nov. 8 win vs. Lehigh
— 80–72 Thursday win in Las Vegas over South Florida
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— Carolina comes off its first loss of the season, 78–60 to No. 3 UCLA on Thursday.
— The Tar Heels committed a season-low seven turnovers (after turning it over 19 times against N.C. Central and 11 times against Elon). They only had seven or fewer turnovers three times last season (4 vs. Oregon State in the NCAA tournament and against Miami, and 7 against N.C. Central)
— UNC pulled down a season-low 30 rebounds (after 48 against NCCU and 41 against Elon), the fewest since getting 30 against Oregon State last season.
— Carolina shot a season-low 34.8% from the floor (52.9% vs. NCCU, 39.4% vs. Elon). The Tar Heels only shot worse than that four times last season: Twice against Duke (28.3% and 32.1%), vs. N.C. State in the ACC tournament (27.9%) and vs. Florida State in the ACC tournament (32.4%).
— Senior guard Indya Nivar leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Ciera Toomey, the only other Tar Heel averaging double-figure points with 10.7, leads the team in rebounding at 9.7 per game.
— Junior guard Reniya Kelly played a season-high 21 minutes, but clearly is still trying to find her rhythm, going 1 of 6 from the floor.
— After going 9 of 33 from 3-point range (27.3%) against the Bruins, UNC is shooting 26.6% from outside the arc through three games. UNC shot worse than 27.3% on 3-point attempts six times last season.
— UCLA put up season-highs by a UNC opponent in field-goal percentage (52.5%), rebounds (32) and assists (24; Carolina’s first two opponents combined for 13).
— Fairfield is the preseason favorite to win the MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
— Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis’ father is Mike Thibault, the winningest coach in WNBA history.
— Kaety L’Amoreaux, who collected 28 points, eight rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal in the win over South Florida, made all 10 free-throw attempts against South Florida and is perfect on 15 attempts this season.
— The Stags were 17th in the country last season with 290 3-pointers. They have 35 through three games. They were 13 of 40 from 3-point range against South Florida, with two-thirds of their shots coming from outside the arc.
— Reserve Christina Pham, a 5–6 graduate guard, scored 17 points against South Florida and was 5 of 9 from 3-point range.
Fairfield statistics
UNC statistics
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 2 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at No. 22 Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photo via fairfieldstags.com
