Photo Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics
By Morey Hershgordon
Having a roster loaded with experience from top to bottom is quite the luxury for a head coach. It’s a fact that Tricia Fabbri is constantly reminded of.
“All my husband keeps saying to me is, ‘you better enjoy this, you better enjoy this,’ because you’re always looking at next and better and this past week, we have really enjoyed the Hartford win and today’s win and it’s really nice to be able to play tomorrow for a championship, and then start next weekend at home,” Fabbri said.
Fabbri and her Quinnipiac Bobcats traveled to Philadelphia on Sunday with one goal in mind, to win.
Led by its core four seniors, Quinnipiac defeated Saint Joseph’s 69-67 for the first time in school history in a thrilling semifinal matchup at the 22nd -annual Hawk Classic at Hagan Arena.
Nikoline Ostergaard, Samantha Guastella, Jasmine Martin and Gillian “Boo” Abshire, combined for 44 points on 17 of 36 shooting including six of 13 from downtown.
“St. Joe’s had our number the last two years and we were up at halftime against them at our place and then they came up and ran us off the court,” Fabbri said following her team’s victory. “But what I like is that we haven’t forgotten about what we didn’t finish last year and really use it as motivation this year.
Over the final seven and a half minutes, the Bobcats converted nine field goals. Eight of the nine baskets were scored on, or assisted by, one of those four seniors.
Despite being in foul trouble for most of the second half, and not converting from the free throw line during the latter stages of the game, the senior-laden Bobcats rose to the task of converting late. Val Driscoll, a graduate student and Michigan transfer, converted a layup to give the Bobcats a four point edge with twenty-seven seconds to go.
“We all know what it’s like to be in that position and step up,” said Martin, who assisted on Driscoll’s layup. “We were ready for it.”
Fabbri agreed. “They’ve been in these situations before,” she said. “Them expecting to make the plays to win. It’s a great team to coach. It’s not who’s going to make the next play, it’s which one do I have to go to.”
With the win over the Hawks, the Bobcats currently sit at 10-2 and on a seven-game winning streak. Yet another quality out-of-conference victory has Fabbri thinking long term.
“If we’re able to come through tomorrow, I think it really allows us to stay in the hunt for the at-large,” she said. “I think it really solidifies our opportunity to be in contention for an at-large if we don’t win a MAAC Championship. I think we need to get into a championship game, but if we don’t, I think we should be in serious contention for that at-large. That’s why we played the schedule that we did.”
The program knows what is on the line. The focus is one game at a time. Quinnipiac will take on Florida Gulf Coast in the championship game on Monday at 4 p.m.
“My players, my seniors, they love a challenge,” Fabbri said. “To them, I feel that maybe we haven’t gotten the total respect at the mid-major level.”
More respect would be earned should Quinnipiac leave Philadelphia with two wins.
Fabbri said it best. “This is a great opportunity for our team and for our program and especially heading into conference play with an opportunity to win a championship.”
