Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By Josh Silverman
Win as a team, lose a team. On Jan. 6, Quinnipiac dominated as a team. The Bobcats earned a much-needed win as they won their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game of the year which ended their three game losing streak.
“There’s no quit in this team,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said about her team’s mentality heading in. Despite trailing 10-6 in the first quarter, Quinnipiac dominated from that point on to beat Rider 64-51 on Wednesday night.
The Bobcats looked like they were starting the game like the past few. They needed a spark to change the game. They got it from reigning MAAC 6th Player of the Year Maria Napolitano. The senior captain hit a jump shot at the end of the first quarter, which put the Bobcats up 15-14. From there, it was all Quinnipiac. They stopped shooting as many 3’s, as they only shot 17 of them the entire game. Against Monmouth they shot 27 three-pointers and against Drexel they shot 26. Instead, they played to Rider’s weaknesses and scored down low.
They outscored Rider 18-8 in the second quarter and they started playing smart, fundamental basketball. They were able to finish the first half with a lead and shot 44 percent from the field. They were getting offensive rebounds and weren’t taking any unnecessary shots.
The second half was no different for either team as Quinnipiac extended its lead early as Rider started 0-for-8 from behind the arc. They outscored Rider 22-15 in the third quarter.
“The last two games we played well enough to win and we didn’t and you saw that in the first quarter but the second, third and fourth quarter was different,” Fabbri said. “The offense got into sync and the shots went in.”
Fabbri had her team slow the game down which made the final score seem closer than game was.
Three players tallied double-digit points, Morgan Manz, Sarah Shewan and Adily Martucci, for the first time since their win against Northeastern on Dec. 9. Every player that played at least 10 minutes scored. As a team the Bobcats shot 50 percent from the field. Even more impressive were the multiple times Quinnipiac made great passes that set up easy shots inside. It had 21 points off of Rider’s 19 turnovers and had 32 points in the paint. Maria Napolitano really played like a leader. She finished with a team-high five assists and was an essential part of Quinnipiac’s ball movement.
The Bobcats first MAAC win comes at a crucial time. They currently sit at 1-3 in the conference. Next, they face Canisius at home on Friday Jan. 8. The Bobcats hope to string two home victories together to put themselves back in the MAAC title race.
