Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Josh Silverman
On March 7, the Iona Gaels rushed the court as they were crowned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions. The Gaels celebrated as the Quinnipiac Bobcats left the court, heads in their hands and feeling nothing but disappointment. They had won 19 straight conference games, but lost the one that mattered the most. Sophomore Jen Fay had it worst, because she couldn’t help her team. She was sidelined the entire season after tearing her ACL, and was helpless as all she could do was watch as time expired in the game.
“It’s tough not being on the court doing what I love,” Fay said. “But I had to be as much of a support off the court so I was always trying to instill positivity in my teammates. We had a great season and of course it didn’t end the way that we wanted it to but we did the best we could and I’m just excited to be back on the court this season.”
After months of rigorous rehab Fay is finally back and perhaps better than ever. She currently leads the team with 99 points, despite averaging only 19 minutes a game. The time rehabbing gave her the opportunity to work on other aspects of her game.
“I definitely improved my 3-point shot. That was the first thing I was able to do because it was actually easier to shoot than do layups because jumping was always the hardest thing for me. I was able to get a lot of shots up and it was able to transition into gameplan.”
She is currently third on the team in 3-pointers made and fourth in 3-point percentage. Through five games she has already taken more than three times the amount of shots from behind the arc as she did her entire freshman year.
Fay has been dangerous from behind the arc and it gives Quinnipiac yet another way to beat opposing teams.
“Now it’s just no doubt in my mind, if I’m open I’m shooting it. My freshman year I think I only shot eight threes the whole season but now I’m trying to expand my arsenal and if I get the ball and I’m open I’m shooting it. That’s what the coaches want and it’s what I’m going to keep doing,” she said.
When Quinnipiac took on Temple University on Nov. 27 Fay came to play. She totalled 26 points and kept Quinnipiac in the game, however they ultimately fell 71-69. The loss didn’t stop head coach Tricia Fabbri from raving about her performance.
“When I eventually got home after the Temple game later that night before I went to bed I texted her and I said ‘That was one remarkable performance, one of the best I’ve seen in a Bobcat uniform.’ It wasn’t just her numbers across the board but who we were playing. I said ‘you just needed to know that.’ She said ‘thanks coach but I wish we would have gotten the win.’ We both feel the same way but it doesn’t diminish that she gave us a real opportunity to get us that win.”
Especially in that game, Fabbri loves how Fay uses all of her tools to take over the games.
“She did it from behind the arc early and was able to slice and be smart and make incredible basketball reads to get the ball and get and-one’s. Her game was offensively complete. We use the word versatility all the time. Her ability to shoot the three and go down low and then put it off the bounce and her right to the basket game was so effective too. It was really a remarkable individual performance.”
Fay adds another element to this Bobcats roster that is already improved from last years regular season MAAC champions. The addition of new freshman, two of whom have already scored in the double digits in a single game, and Fay makes Quinnipiac a very dangerous team.
“It’s unreal. Any given night anyone can do it. We had two freshman who hadn’t played that much come in, one started and one came off the bench, and they performed exceptionally. You can’t really ask for anything more than your starting five second five and third five coming off and scoring double digits and that’s why we’ll be so hard to beat.”
While it’s only December and the Bobcats have only played two conference games, it’s not out of the questions to have Fay is the MAAC Player of the Year conversation. However, Fabbri wants to pump the breaks and take it one game at a time.
“It’s so early in the season I just want her to do what she’s been doing. Just being at her best and continuing to contribute to a lot of Quinnipiac wins this season.”
