Fairfield girls fall to Keokuk

The Chiefs? smothering defense was too much for Fairfield to handle on Tuesday night, as the Trojans fell 59-43 to conference foe Keokuk on the road.

Not helping things was a breakout performance by Paige Kayvan, as the Keokuk senior hit on eight of her 13 shots from the field, including 5-7 from beyond the arc for a whopping 25 points.

?She played really well and shot the ball fantastically,? said Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery. ?We were tied 8-8 and they went on a 13-0 run. Coach [Mike] Davis had his team playing a very tough pressure defense.?

Staring down a 31-17 deficit at halftime, Fairfield struggled until the fourth quarter, when the Trojans lit the scoreboard up for 20 points, but Keokuk stayed with them stride for stride, scoring 19 to keep the margin insurmountable.

?We attacked the basket very well in the second half,? said Flattery. ?We shot 20-25 from the free throw line, which was great. Kylie Kurtz especially shot well, making 10 of her 11 free throws.?

Kurtz led the Trojans with 17 points. Sami Fritz scored nine points on the night, Nicole Buch chipped in eight, including a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Mackenzie Flattery had five points and Delaney Ridgway picked up four points to round out Fairfield?s scoring.

The loss puts Fairfield at 6-5 overall on the season with a 2-1 Southeast Conference record. All three of the Trojans? conference games have been played on the road. Fairfield will host Fort Madison on Friday for their first home conference game. The Bloodhounds stand at 3-6 overall, most recently losing 47-34 at Washington on Tuesday.