FAIRFIELD, CONN. - The Columbia women's basketball team had 15 points from senior Melissa Shafer and 10 points from junior Tyler Simpson, but couldn't rally to beat Fairfield Thursday night, as the Stags won, 54-44.

Columbia had its highest shooting percentage of the year in the second half, with the Lions shooting 52% from the field, but it was not enough to get the win.

The first half saw the two teams go scoreless for almost two minutes, before a free throw by Fairfield finally opened scoring at 18:16. Taylor Ward and Taylor Ball each had layups in the first four minutes to get Columbia on the board, as Fairfield led at 16:32, 7-4. 

From there, the Stags went on a 15-0 run over six minutes, with Katelyn Linney, Alexys Vazquez and Desiree Pina unloading five three-pointers. Fairfield held the lead, 21-4 at 12:11. Ball ended the scoring drought for the Lions with a jumper at 10:33, putting Fairfield up 21-6. 

The Stags held on to the lead into the half, 28-13. Columbia had nine costly turnovers in the first half, as Fairfield scored 12 points off Columbia's mistakes. 

Columbia came out shooting in the second half, and started to chip away at Fairfield's lead.  Junior Tyler Simpson had eight straight points for Columbia, and her jumper at 11:59 cut Fairfield's lead to 38-32. The six-point deficit was the closest the Lions would come for the rest of the night. 

Fairfield pulled away with the help of consistent free throw shooting, and led Columbia 51-38 with 2:27 left in the game. The Lions used a three from senior Melissa Shafer to close the lead to 53-44 with 56 seconds left to play, but in the end, Fairfield took the win, 54-44. 

With the loss, the Lions are now 1-8 on the season. Up next for Columbia is a game at Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sunday, December 11 at 2 p.m. 

NOTES

Columbia first-year Lizzy Stachon had her first career start in Connecticut … it was also the first time this year both Taylors, Taylor Ball and Taylor Ward, started the game … the two Taylors combined for Columbia's first 11 points, as a player named Taylor did not score for the Lions until the 4:46 mark, when senior Melissa Shafer hit a jumper … it was also the first time this year Columbia started two first-years (Mbionwu and Stachon) … Fairfield had four players in double figures: Vazquez (14), Linney (11), Pina (!1) and Johnson (10) … Johnson had a double-double for the Stags with 10 rebounds, and added three blocks to her stat line … Mbionwu led the Lions on the boards with 7 rebounds … the Lions struggled at the free throw line, hitting 7 of 16, of 43% … Columbia had 18 turnovers in the loss.