Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Chris Dacey
After top-seeded Quinnipiac women’s basketball team was honored for a regular season championship, it got a bit of a scare on Friday as No. 8 Canisius hung with the Bobcats the entire game before they escaped with a 63-58 win. A game-winning 3-pointer from Carly Fabbri with less than a minute to go and a game-high 19 points from Adily Martucci proved to be too much.
Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said her team was one of the best defensive teams she has ever coached on Monday afternoon’s league conference call. Despite foul trouble for Aryn McClure and Paula Strautmane, Fabbri was still pleased with her team’s effort.
“At this time of year, and I’ve done this my entire life, you don’t take any game for granted and you’re just chipping away,” Fabbri said.
And that is exacatly what Quinnipiac did. Down two at half the team hung tough down the stretch and pulled ahead to get the quarterfinal win.
“I think, mentally it’s a nice a spring board going (further in) the tournament.”
Saturday afternoon, the Bobcats scouted Siena and Iona, the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds respectively, in the quarterfinals. The defending champion Gaels defeated the Saints, 67-47, to advance and face the Bobcats in Sunday morning’s semifinal game at 11 a.m. ET.
Iona head coach Billi Godsey knows that even though Iona beat Quinnipiac this season, the semifinal game will not be a cake walk by any means.
“We are expecting a great game from them,” Godsey said. “They are a very very well coached team; they work hard but if we stay true to who we are and focus on our game we will do what we need to do against them.”
But the main thing Godsey stressed after the Siena win is they needed to focus on themselves, rather than their opponent.
“We have to lock in defensively and we have to focus on ourselves,” Godsey said. “None of the games this year or the championship game last year are over. If we can stay in the moment, I think we have a good shot.”
Martucci, a redshirt senior, has the same mentality as the Gaels.
“I definitely have to be on my game at this point. I’m trying to be the best leader that I can be because these games are crucial,” Martucci said. “It’s one and done. Just trying to be at my best, so my teammates can be at their best is really key in order to win these games.”
However, this team needs more than Martucci to lead. Jen Fay, Aryn McClure and Paula Strautmane need to produce more on offense. They combined for just 11 points on four-of-15 from the floor. They totaled eight personal fouls.
In order to beat Iona in the semifinals, Quinnipiac cannot afford these players to get into foul trouble which will limit touches.
Also, Quinnipiac tends to get off to slow starts. The Bobcats trailed at the end of the first quarter in each of its last two games. Chipping away in the regular season is a completely different story than playing from behind in the playoffs.
“I think in the second half we came out and played a much better game defensively and that had to do a lot with the change putting Adily Martucci on (Tamara) Miskovic,” Fabbri said.
As for Iona, they know what to expect. The Gaels played them twice already and beat them last year in the championship.
“They do a little bit of everything,” Iona head coach Billi Godsey said. “They can get it inside, they can knock down threes but again, it’s about us.”
Iona is fueled by its two-headed monster, Alexis Lewis and Marina Lizarazu. The backcourt is the backbone of this Gaels team. As they go Iona goes.
Quinnipiac fans are familiar.
In the first meeting, Lewis, who scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Lizarazu, who added 24 points,
Conversely, the Bobcats shut down the senior guard the second time around. While Lewis had another solid game with 19 points and 14 rebounds, Lizarazu only had four points.
Both Gaels were voted to the All-MAAC first team.
X-factor: Ayrn McClure
The third-team selection is arguably the best offensive player Quinnipiac has and she know how to create for herself with the ball as well as create open shots for her teammates. She assisted in Fabbri’s game-winner on Friday.
The Bobcats need McClure to score more than the six points she had on Friday. The sophomore averages 8.9 points per night in MAAC play. Her counterpart, Fay, needs to get her touches too. Fay only took five shots because she was in foul trouble.
Who has the edge?
In the rematch of last year’s MAAC Championship game and the third meeting of these programs this season, it will be a close game.
However, Quinnipiac was rewarded with a day off on Saturday. The rest, gives a slight advantage to the Bobcats as they should advance to the title game, 55-53.
Quinnipiac will get its revenge for last year’s MAAC Tournament in a closely contested game. The Bobcats should have momentum after an emotional win.
