Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Chris Dacey
After winning the regular season championship for the third straight year, the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team finds itself competing MAAC Championship for the fourth year in a row. The Bobcats defeated the reining MAAC Champs, Iona, by a score of 64-59.
No. 2 seed Rider is coached by the 2017 MAAC Coach of the Year, Lynn Miligan, and is led by the 2017 MAAC Player of the Year, Robin Perkins.
The game will tip at 5 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPNU.
Coaches
Tricia Fabbri (22nd season at Quinnipiac, 376-275 record)
- 2 NCAA Tournament appearances (2013, 2015)
Lynn Milligan (10th season at Rider, 112-193)
- MAAC Coach of the Year
How they got here
Quinnipiac:
Quinnipiac was the regular season champion and finished with a record of 24-6. The Bobcats had the first-round bye and played the Canisius, who beat Niagara in the opening round. The Canisius game was a nail-bitter for Quinnipiac as it took a game-winning, 3-pointer from Carly Fabbri to secure the 63-58 win.
From there, Quinnipiac faced Iona in a rematch of last year’s championship. It was a close throughout and Iona led at the half, 28-26. The Gaels led 41-31 midway through the third quarter, but Quinnipiac locked in on defense and used a 20-2 run to win 64-59 and advance to another MAAC Championship game.
Rider:
In the regular season, Quinnipiac swept Rider winning by at least 12 points.
Rider came into the MAAC Tournament at 23-7 overall and 16-4 in the conference, good for second. In the quarterfinals, Rider defeated Monmouth 67-51 and then pulled away from Fairfield late, 49-36, in the semifinals.
Players to watch
Carly Fabbri (Quinnipiac junior guard)
So far in the MAAC Tournament she’s scored 13 points with three assists and then 14 points with four assists and four rebounds.
“I’m confident in my shot,” the captain said. “I like coming off the bench. It’s like a little spark for the team and I’ve just been in an attacking mode.”
She’s shot 47 percent from the floor in the tournament including 42.9 percent from behind the arc.
And on the defensive end Fabbri is active gathering three steals in the tournament.
Robin Perkins (Rider graduate guard)
Perkins has yet to appear in the MAAC Tournament and according to Milligan, she is listed as “day-to-day.” During the regular season, Perkins averaged a team high 15.5 points per game before going down with an injured foot.
In two games against Quinnipiac, Perkins has scored 33 and 15 points respectively.
Why Quinnipiac will win
Momentum. Both teams have it going into the championship but the Bobcats beat Iona who beat them last year. It was an emotional win. Players like Adily Martucci said they wanted Iona because it took the championship from them last year.
Also, the Bobcats are riding the play of their captains. Fabbri and Martucci are confident and the latter is averaging 16.5 points in the past two games.
Why Rider will win
If Rider can take advantage of Quinnipiac’s poor performances early in games, the Broncs can win. In the Iona game, the Bobcats shot 31.2 percent in the first three quarters before exploding for 72.7 percent in the fourth quarter.
Rider must capitalize and pull ahead early as well as withstand Quinnipiac’s late surge.
Key Quotes
Tricia Fabbri:
“I cannot speak enough about experience at this point in time and about just being in these games and expecting to be in these games, wanting to be in these games, wanting to be in these pressure situations.”
“We are really comfortable with our identity and who we are. All we know is how we are going to win ball games.”
“We play the game to win. Winning is more fun. We work really hard and want to continue to push the program to new heights.”
“For us it’s about team, it’s about wins, it’s about winning championships, it’s about the NCAA Tournament, it’s about the next step for the program winning games in the NCAA Tournament.”
Lynn Milligan:
“We said before this tournament started that we haven’t played our best basketball yet.”
“These kids are ready for adjustments we make. We just lost to Fairfield about a week ago and we made some very suttle adjustments that thought really helped us and we will try to do the same thing (in the championship).”
“(The championship) is going to be about us and playing Rider women’s basketball to the best of our ability. We have a great opportunity in front of us we know that, we have a mountain to climb and we understand that as well.”
