Carly Thibault-DuDonis conducts a timeout. Fairfield Athletics photo.

When Carly Thibault-DuDonis took the helm of the Fairfield basketball program in 2022, it wasn’t hard to imagine her enhancing the success of the program, given her coaching lineage.

But no one necessarily expected the incredible season that the team has had this year.

After losing their third game by just 3 points, the 24-1 Stags have won 22 straight, breaking a 50-year-old program record and standing behind only No. 1 South Carolina with the longest winning streak in Division I. One more win will tie Fairfield for the most wins in program history.

Last weekend they clinched the MAAC regular-season championship, with a perfect 16-0 record. They’ve beaten opponents from seven different conferences, including two Power 5 teams, by an average of 19.1 points per game. They have been on the verge of being ranked in the AP top 25 poll for weeks.

Thibault-DuDonis’ former boss Lindsay Whalen, for whom she served as associate head coach at the University of Minnesota, said the elevation of the Stags program was all in the cards.

“The success that Fairfield is having is certainly outstanding, but not surprising,” Whalen said. “Carly was born for this. She is the hardest-working person I’ve seen during my…

Paula Haw takes a tough shot against Santa Clara. Sac State Athletics photo.

Despite fighting valiantly for their first win, Sacramento State fell just short of upsetting Santa Clara, who prevailed 70-65 Wednesday.

The Broncos started the game on a quick 7-0 run, but the Hornets battled back with a tough zone defense, forcing their opponents to shoot from the outside, and only trailed 20-15 after one. 

Sac State continued their strong play in the second quarter, with defense in outside shooting, and trailed 30-29 at the half. Solape Amusan came off the bench to lead the charge with nine points; both the Hornets and the Broncos hit six threes in the first half.

“We did a great job playing together and spacing the floor,” Sac State coach Aaron Kallhoff said.

The Hornets came out hot in the second half, shooting 64 percent from the field, and outrebounding their opponents, 11-2. They got 10 points from their bench and six points from Benthe Versteeg to take a 49-45 lead into the final frame.

Sac State then hit two straight threes by Amusan and Summah Hanson. In the middle of the quarter, the Broncos went on 8-0 run to tie the game at 55, with 5:09 left. The run turned into a 17-0 run for Santa Clara.

After going down 64-55, the Hornets answered back with an 8-0 run to cut the…