It has been 362 days since the Quinnipiac University women’s basketball team walked off the court following a crushing 70-66 defeat to the Marist Red Foxes in the 2014 MAAC Championship game. Now, its back and on a mission. A perfect conference record and a regular season championship flies out the window. Every team enters the tournament with a 0-0 record. The Bobcats must win three games in four days to avenge the pain it still suffers. Its quest begins on Friday at noon against the Monmouth Hawks.
Quinnipiac (28-3, 20-0) defeated Monmouth (13-17, 8-12) by an average of 40 points in the two games the teams played. Yes, 40 points. A 94-53 beating in Hamden on Jan. 4 and an 87-48 whooping on March 1 in West Long Branch, the regular season finale. While Quinnipiac is the heavy favorite, don’t expect the Bobcats to roll in sluggish like other favorites. The senior-laden team knows that any game from here on out could end up being the final game in a Bobcats uniform.
Assuming the Bobcats come away victorious, it is important each facet of its game plan is used, executed and ready to go for Sunday and Monday. Running through all of the offensive and defensive sets as well as forecasting all of the potential lineups is imperative. Obviously, it does not want to show anything special it has planned, but making sure that the full court pressure and transition defense is solidified will be a difference maker for later in the tournament. As long as Quinnipiac shares the ball and spreads the floor, it will have no problem advancing to the league semifinals. I can’t promise you a 40-point blowout, but a victory by a margin of 15 to 25 points is in the cards.
In two games against the Hawks, the Bobcats had eight players record double-digits in points to just two players who scored more than 10 points for the Hawks. That right there says it all. Aside from Quinnipiac, who traditionally plays 11 or 12 players, Monmouth is the next deepest team in the MAAC. Ten players average double-digit minutes for the Hawks. After that, there aren’t many similarities.
Granted, Monmouth shot 21 percent and 31 percent in both of those regular games, well below the 36 percent it averages from the field. I do not think it shoots as bad in Friday’s game, but in order to keep up with the high octane Quinnipiac offense it will need to shoot closer to 45 or fifty percent to withstand any chance.
As for the Bobcats, the 3-pointers will continue to fly and Val Driscoll will dominate the paint. The fifth-year senior transfer is averaging more than 21 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks per game during the last four games. If she even flirts with those numbers the Bobcats will cruise past any team in the MAAC.
Finally, I have to ask, will Jasmine Martin produce? The preseason unanimous All-MAAC First Team selection had a rocky senior campaign. However, the postseason is where the lights come on. In last year’s MAAC Tournament Martin averaged 12 points. She hit a 27-foot 3-pointer to send a game with Canisius into overtime a few weeks back. Martin was also dominant in her sophomore year, helping lead the Bobcats to a 30-3 record, a Northeast Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. She has the resume and pedigree to be a prime time player. But will she?
