L’Amoreaux scores 21, No. 25 Fairfield women beat Sacred Heart in MAAC tourney for 9th straight win

Audio By Carbonatix

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Kaety L’Amoreaux scored 21 points, Meghan Andersen added 16 points and No. 25 Fairfield eased by Sacred Heart 69-53 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament for its ninth victory in a row.

Fairfield (26-4), the No. 2 seed, continues its quest for a third straight MAAC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. The Stags already secured their third straight regular-season title, the seventh in program history.

L’Amoreaux, the conference player of the year, and Andersen combined for 22 points in the first half to help Fairfield build a 35-24 lead. Andersen scored five points during a 12-0 second-quarter run that gave the Stags a 14-point lead.

Fairfield led by double figures the entire second half. The Stags closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run and led by as many as 27 in the fourth before Sacred Heart scored the final 11 points of the game against reserves.

L’Amoreaux and Andersen each went 7 of 11 from the field to help Fairfield shoot 46% overall, while Sacred Heart was held to 19-of-54 shooting (35%). L’Amoreaux reached 20-plus points for the sixth time this season.

Cyanne Coe added 10 points for Fairfield. Carly Thibault-DuDonis reached 100 wins during her four-year career to become the fastest coach in MAAC history to reach the mark.

Emma Kirby led Sacred Heart (13-18), the No. 7 seed, with 15 points. Amelia Wood added 11 points, Missy Nuku had 10 points and Nalyce Dudley grabbed 10 rebounds.

Sacred Heart: Season likely comes to an end.

Fairfield: Awaits the winner of Saturday's quarterfinal game between Merrimack and Mount St. Mary's — with the semifinal set for Sunday.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball