Last Monday Fairfield beat Quinnipiac 51-44 in the MAAC women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Stags did not make a single NCAA tourney from 2002-2021 but are now heading back there for the 4th time in the past 5 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Fairfield JR G Jillian Huerter about being named conference tourney MVP and making the NCAA tourney.
You began your college career at Rutgers: why did you decide to transfer in 2024, and what made you choose Fairfield? After my freshman year, I realized that Rutgers was not the right basketball fit that I thought it would be. Fairfield has a 5-out offense with a lot of moving/cutting, and I get a lot of support as a player both on/off the court.
You play for Coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis: what makes her such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? She cares about her players, which can be rare in college basketball. She is so knowledgeable about the game and can prepare us for anything. She takes a holistic approach to everything, which starts with getting our minds right before games/practices. It brings a lot of joy to our team, which makes a long season go by very smoothly.
Take me through the MAAC tourney last weekend:
In the semifinals you scored a career-high 19 PTS/5-8 3PM in a win over Merrimack: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? It did feel a little like that. I got some open looks because my teammates were finding me, and after making the 1st couple of baskets my confidence rose and I shot the ball to stay hot.
In the title game you scored a team-high 16 PTS/6-12 FG in a 7-PT win over Quinnipiac: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? The locker room celebration was a lot of fun. We just tried to emulate adversity all year by battling each day in practice. We knew that we could do it when it mattered because we had experienced that so much in the past.
You were also named conference tourney MVP: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It was a little surreal, and is a great honor…but the best part is that we won the championship.
You played a couple of great non-conference opponents this season in North Carolina/Iowa: which of them impressed you the most? Both of those teams are very good because they are athletic/skilled. Playing against Ava Heiden of Iowa was such a unique challenge because she is an efficient post player who does not need a lot of time to score.
Your team led the nation this year with 11.4 3PM: how crucial is the 3-PT shot to your team’s success? It has been a big reason why we won so many games, but we try not to rely solely on that. We try to have a good balance with our defense…but we do put a lot of time into shooting and are not shy about taking them during games.
Your team has won 24 of its past 25 games: has it reached a point where the fans expect you to win every time that you step onto the court? 1 effect of winning is the pressure that comes with it, but you cannot look too far ahead. After winning the MAAC title the past 2 years there was a lot of talk about having a 3-peat, but we were the underdog and did not put any pressure on ourselves.
Your father Tom/brother Tom played basketball at Siena, your uncle Jim played college basketball, your brother Kevin plays for the Detroit Pistons, and your sister Meghan played basketball at Albany: who is the best athlete in the family? We are very competitive so I would have to say myself! We have had many great battles.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I have seen a lot of predictions and I think we are in the 10/11/12 area. It is hard to pick a seed for every team, but that would be a great seed for a team from the MAAC.
