Washington wastes no time vs. Fairfield

Washington won its game with Fairfield Friday night, and it did all it could to win it in the first quarter.

The Demons (3-1, 1-0 SEC) opened up a gaping hole on the scoreboard with an 18-2 advantage after the first quarter, and it was enough cushion to last the rest of the way. They cruised to a 59-51 victory over the rival Trojans (1-5, 0-2) in its Southeast Conference opener.

Washington?s full-court pressure out of the gate rattled Fairfield, forced turnovers and limited the Trojans? opportunities to score.

?We talked about getting a fast start because we haven?t been able to do that so far,? said Washington head coach Phil Long. ?We had four good days to prepare and do some scouting, so I had a pretty good handle on what direction they would try to go. I don?t think they?ve seen the kind of pressure we were able to put on them and it?s something you can?t duplicate in practice.?

The game plan worked wonders early, and by the time Fairfield adjusted, the damage had been done.

?They get a big lead like that, and I?m just like ?jeez, what are we going to do?? We talked through some things and the girls didn?t want it to go like that,? said Fairfield head coach Billy Strickler. ?We finally ran our press-breaker right and got the things we wanted out of it, so it was more just a matter of execution.?

The Trojans responded with a big 25-point second quarter and did most of it by getting to the free throw line. Fairfield hit 14-of-15 free throws in the period and climbed all the way back to within seven points following a Serena Ward putback that made the score 34-27.

?A big thing for us is to always get to the line,? Strickler said. ?They get a little weaker as they go down the bench, so we wanted to draw those fouls and getting to the line allowed us to get back in the game.?

Sydney Baumann hit all seven of her second-quarter free throw attempts and scored 11 points in the period.

?We had the big lead so we?re lollygagging around and fouling and all of a sudden it?s a game again,? said Long. ?Coaches always want that big blowout lead, but not early because it can always come back to bite you.?

But the momentum still belonged to Washington and Sydney Greiner made sure of it.

The junior, who scored six points in the first quarter, nailed a 3-pointer off a set play just before the halftime buzzer to push the lead back up to double digits heading into the locker room. Greiner scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half to lead the Demons while Lauren Vittetoe took over in the second half en route to a team-high 16 points.

Baumann and Ward each finished with a game-high 19 points, Tori Ogden added 10 points ? eight from the free throw line ? and brought the Trojans back to as close as five points at 53-48 with just over three minutes remaining.

But Washington had one more answer and one more burst to put the game away ? something the Demons continually came up with despite battling heavy foul trouble much of the second half.

?The bench kids came in and did a good job of maintaining that 8-11 point lead,? Long said. ?We had to take the pressure off because of the fouls, but the defense did its job of holding them off.?

No Trojan other than the top three scorers contributed more than two points.

Jena Krebs added eight points and six rebounds from inside to help Washington while Emily Zehr chipped in six to go along with seven boards.

Next up for both squads will be road trips Tuesday night as Fairfield heads to Davis County and Washington takes on Durant.