By: Morey Hershgordon
The Quinnipiac women’s basketball team shocked the nation Monday night, upsetting No. 4 seed Miami (Fl.), 85-78, en route to the program’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance. Quinnipiac is just the fourth No. 12 seed, since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1994, to punch its ticket to the second weekend of the tournament. Quinnipiac will face No. 1 seed South Carolina in a Stockton Regional semifinal at 4 p.m. ET. on Saturday March 25.
Below are three very quick takeaways from Monday’s nights upset:
1. Another hot start for Quinnipiac
Just like it had done to Marquette in the first quarter, Quinnipiac jumped out to an early lead. Outside of the first few possessions, Quinnipiac put on a clinic. It drilled six long balls in the first quarter alone, highlighted by one from Morgan Manz, who hit six in the game. The Hurricanes full court pressure didn’t phase the Bobcats at all. Methodically puncturing the Hurricanes 1-2-2 press, Quinnipiac’s heady play and ball movement allowed it to have seven assists on the first seven made shots.
2. Quinnipiac dug deep, early and late, in the third quarter when things got tough.
Miami’s momentum from the end of the first half, when it finished on a much-needed 6-0 spurt, cutting the Quinnipiac lead to 43-36, carried over to begin the final 20 minutes. The Hurricanes attacked the interior off the dribble, hard. Quinnipiac picked up four fouls in the opening 2:19 and was in serious foul trouble. Jen Fay, the teams leading scorer against Marquette with 20 points, went to the bench with four personal fouls at the 7:41 mark. Over the next three minutes, her team hit four straight shots, a pair of two’s and three’s, to maintain an eight point lead, 53-45. Quinnipiac flexed its muscles. Miami answered with an 8-2 run, cutting its deficit to just two. With the crowd at the Watsco Center on their feet, Manz banged one from distance and Carly Fabbri’s left-handed scoop and score high off the glass, kept Miami at bay. Quinnipiac entered the fourth and final quarter up 60-55.
3. Bobcats’ poise helped fend off multiple Hurricane comebacks.
Paula Strautmane drove left. And kept on going. The sophomore’s tough finish at the rim gave Quinnipiac a seven-point lead, 70-63, with 7:02 remaining. But Miami, one of just seven teams to defeat two AP Top-10 teams away from home, refused to go away. With less than three minutes to play, it found itself down just one point. The teams then traded buckets for nearly two minutes. First it was Aryn McClure, off the designed isolation set, who hit a smooth, fadeaway jumper from just inside the foul line. Miami bullied its way to two, down low. Back down the court, the Bobcats found a cutting Manz underneath plus the foul. She would go on to miss the free throw, and Miami made it a one-point ball game, 75-74. Then, Martucci, who blocked a potential game-winning shot with 20 seconds left on Saturday, caught a pass in the right corner. Without hesitation, she fired away. Nothing but net. 78-74 with 57.5 seconds separating Quinnipiac from the Seeet Sixteen.
