The Hawks get an impressive win thanks in large part to two unlikely sources.

What stuck with you the morning (or afternoon) after?

Advanced Stat Summary from BartTorvik: [https://barttorvik.com/ncaaw/box.php?muid=FairfieldIowa11-30&year=2026](https://barttorvik.com/ncaaw/box.php?muid=FairfieldIowa11-30&year=2026)

* To me, this is the most impressive win the Hawks have had so far. Due to the timing & the weather, they didn't have their usual home-court advantage; they had 3 players out of the game including their floor general; they didn't get the best games from their "stars" & Fairfield showed up from the jump and played their style of basketball - deadly shooting from 3 & aggressive attacking defense. Didn't matter.
* Jan said in the presser that her son asked her before the game, "How did you let them get on your schedule?" As luck would have it, he could've just come to our sub here to get the answer! (thanks again to u/CoachBlake_ for swinging by - how cool was that?!?)
* I don't know about you but when we open the scoring with a McCabomb, I always feel like good things are gonna happen. Couple that with a Kylie layup to go up 5-0 and I was like "Nothing is touching us today." Then, the Barrage started. Over the next 6 minutes, the Stags went on a 22-6 run which really got going on a 6-point possession where Kaety L'Amoreaux hits a 3 at the top of the key as Strem plows through a pin-down screen at the foul line giving Fairfield the ball back & Jill Huerter makes another 3. The Hawks weren't doing a good job of recognizing shooters, navigating screens or communicating switches on defense & the Stags repeatedly made us pay. Ava & Hannah missed a few bunnies & the energy was just off.
* Enter Journey Houston. Journey was +13 in 20 minutes of game-time. She was aggressive attacking the basket including a nice little baseline 8-footer, she grabbed 6 rebounds, had 3 assists but most importantly, she consistently matched Fairfield's energy, scrapping for those boards & especially being nimble enough to guard out on the perimeter - her defense when matched up with Stags star Meghan Anderson was huge. So far, Journey has proven time & again to provide that spark off the bench, particularly when Hannah is not at her best. I mentioned Journey's +13; Hannah was only +1 in her 20 minutes...
* While Journey's energy help bring the Hawks back to even in the 2nd quarter, it was the  (justified) T on Captain Chaos that put the energy over the top. First off, that was an exceptional defensive play by Strem & I understand her emotional response but the refs are going to call that every single time. Not only was Jan's reaction on the sideline perfect, Tay-Tay running over, putting her hands on Jan's shoulders to explain what had happened was the icing on the cake! You could see the bench respond after Strem sat down - the team was locked in, especially on defense.
* How about the final minute of the 1st half for Addie?!? Drains a huge spot-up 3, jumps the passing lane to get a deflection to stall a Stags possession, has the ball poked out for a turnover near mid-court, races back to block L'Amoreaux at the rim & hits a 17-footer to end the half with the Hawks up 6 and owning all of the momentum. I thought this was Addie's best game on defense so far as well. Love watching her grow into this.
* The Hawks held Fairfield to 23 total points in the 2nd & 3rd quarters, in large part due to Ava's presence at the rim. While Ava's numbers look good, I don't think she had a great game offensively but on defense, she was exceptional, either altering shots or blocking them out-right WITHOUT FOULING, the exception to that being when she leaped out to block Andersen's 4th quarter 3-attempt (!!!) & picked up a hustle foul going after the ball - totally justified. When you overcommit on their shooters, Fairfield wants to attack the rim on back cuts to get layups or get fouled & score at the foul line - Ava did not let that happen all game. The Stags were 6-21 at the rim...
* This was the uber-Kylie game. Not only did her 3 4th quarter 3's help keep the surging Stags at bay (how fun was that 4th quarter, huh?!?), her defense on L'Amoreaux was superb. L'Amoreuax is the engine of Fairfield and Kylie, as her primary defender, helped keep her to her lowest scoring output of the season (12 points on 4-12 shooting) and most importantly, kept her off of the foul line. There was a possession in the 2nd quarter that highlighted all of this with Kylie taking away screen angles, swiping at the ball, closing quickly after all sorts of screen action to where L'Amoreaux (I love typing her name) couldn't get a shot off so they do a dribble hand-off at the top of the key for Andersen that Kylie switches on. It's easy to forget that, along with her elite motor & athleticism, Kylie is pretty tall at 6'0" with long arms. She closes out hard on Andersen, causing a miss. Kylie's defense is a weapon.
* Was anyone else not surprised when Tay-Tay missed her first free throw? She looked so uncomfortable there! She was terrific, by the way, leading in both +/- (+18) & minutes played (37:33).
* JUST CHATTING: Was really hoping to see Chat play in this one - you could tell in the presser that Jan felt that way too. Feels like we're getting close here. 
   * Jan also said in the presser that Emely & Teagan were both close as well, mentioning how Teagan already looks ready after getting her tonsils removed.
* Nit Pick: I do not like charges, particularly when the defense "performs" a charge by attempting to stand still with arms raised & flying to the ground at first contact. And yes, I understand that Kylie is a master at this & frequently gets rewarded for such behavior. Fairfield also understands how beneficial this performance can be & went to the ground constantly throughout the game. I just don't buy that these athletes would go down so easily unless they wanted to sell a call, ya know? Anyways...
* One more thing - Fairfield came into the game ranked 17th in FT rate, going to the foul line on 23.7% of their possessions. They shot 5 FT's yesterday, making just 2.

This felt like a conference game to me, the intensity & feistiness on both sides was palpable. Such a fun game to watch with so many contributions for the shortened rotation. I can breathe easier now. Of the "Big 5" non-con games, we're now 3-0 with the 2 toughest games yet to play... GO HAWKS!

The Morning After: Fairfield