Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By Morey Hershgordon
Coach
Tricia Fabbri (21st season, 325-260; .556)
Last year
Dreamlike. Breathtaking. Mind-blowing. The 2014-2015 basketball season for Tricia Fabbri’s Quinnipiac Bobcats seemed almost too surreal at times. The team compiled the most wins in program history (31), completed an undefeated regular and post-season record (23-0), knocked off ten-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Marist, garnered votes in four consecutive Associated Press Top 25 polls, and won a ring. Phew. That’s a lot. Jasmine Martin, despite not averaging near the amount of points she had in her sophomore and junior seasons, stepped up when the Bobcats needed her most. A game-tying 27-foot 3-pointer at the end of regulation against Canisius helped keep their MAAC record pristine, a game-high 24 points in the programs first win against a power-5 opponent in the Alabama Crimson Tide and Most Valuable Player honors in the MAAC tournament. Mix her in with Samantha Guastella, a first-team all-conference selection, Gillian “Boo” Abshire who led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, Nikoline Ostergaard who baffled opponents with her ballerina-esq, european moves and Val Driscoll’s domination of the paint and in just four years the 2015 class took Quinnipiac women’s basketball on the ride of a lifetime. From a northeast unknown to an upstart mid-major, the success of the program in upcoming season’s was shaped by those five.
Key Losses
Jasmine Martin (MAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player; 12.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.1 spg)
Samantha Guastella (1st team All-MAAC; MAAC Tournament Team; 12.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.8 bpg, 1.0 spg)
Gillian “Boo” Abshire (3rd team All-MAAC; 6.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.3 spg)
Nikoline Ostergaard (3rd team All-MAAC; 8.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.9 apg)
Val Driscoll (2nd team All-MAAC; 12.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg)
New Faces
Brittany Martin (Timber Creek, NJ; Timber Creek High School)
Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York; Archbishop Molloy)
Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher, Ireland; Ireland U18 National Team)
Paula Strautmane (Mucenieki, Latvia; Latvia U16, 18, 20 National Team)
Unspoken
Katie Carroll (6-foot forward)
Carroll missed all of the 2014-2015 season due to an elbow injury. The Westlake, Ohio native is primed for a bounce-back year. The success she has, will determine how good this Quinnipiac team can be. Carroll has experience playing on winning teams. In her freshman year, the Bobcats finished 30-3 and won the Northeast Conference and her sophomore season featured a trip to the MAAC championship game. To date Carroll has played limited minutes, but being named captain for this season speaks volumes about her character, work-ethic and respect her teammates have for her. This year, if Carroll can help mentor a young front court and anchor the post offensively and defensively for the second unit, Quinnipiac will thrive. She’s watched former forwards Brittany McQuain and Val Driscoll flourish; now it’s her time to shine. She needs to use her length and presumably fresh legs to slow down Tori Jarosz of Marist, Joy Adams of Iona, and the plethora of bigs for Farifield. Averaging four points, three rebounds, and a blocked shot per game will keep Quinnipiac atop the conference.
3 Games to watch
at Marist (Dec. 3)
It’s no secret that the MAAC wants to fuel a rivalry, because frankly it hasn’t had one in quite some time. Before Quinnipiac entered the MAAC before the 2013-2014 season, Marist won six consecutive titles by at least 15 points. Now, Quinnipiac has made a statement in just short years compiling a 39-7 conference record. It opens on the road at Marist who returns All-MAAC forward Tori Jarosz. Jarosz was granted a 6th year of eligibility by the NCAA this summer and is poised to lead her Red Foxes back to the big dance. Quinnipiac walloped Marist by 18 points twice in the regular season and by 11 points in the championship game. Brian Giorgis does not want anything to do with those results again.
at Florida Gulf Coast (Dev. 28)
The Bobcats met the mid-major powerhouse for the first time last season in the Saint Joseph’s Hawk Classic championship game. A few questionable calls late allowed the Eagles to soar to victory. But the matchup in Fort Myers this year should pay dividends for the Bobcats come March. Whitney Knight is one of the country’s best players and FGCU will likely be in, or around the AP Top 25 in late December. A brutal road test against a senior-laden team will give Quinnipiac’s inexperience a perspective of what the end goal should be.
at Fairfield (Jan. 22)
Picked to finish first in the conference. Fabbri’s alma matter. Late January. This in-state matchup will prove to be one of the more meaningful games in the MAAC all season long. The Stags feel they were robbed last season after blowing a double-digit, second-half lead. This year, Quinnipiac enters Alumni Hall on the back end of a three-game road trip. A win would give Quinnipiac the upper hand about halfway through the conference slate.
Which door will QU open?
Door 1 (23-6, 17-3 MAAC and a 2nd place finish)
To win 20-plus games for the fifth straight season is surely attainable. Quinnipiac will parade around teams displaying its depth. A team built on fresh legs will toy with opposing teams that go only seven or eight players deep. Maria Napolitano and Adily Martucci, freshmen during the 31-win 2012-2013 season, will average between 25 and 30 points per game together and will be first and second team all-MAAC selections, respectively. The trio of Sarah Shewan, Morgan Manz, and Paula Strautmane will serve as a trident down low for Fabbri. Door 1 will reveal yet another championship game matchup against Marist, with Quinnipiac prevailing.
Door 2 (19-10, 15-5 MAAC and a 4th place finish)
Much like the 2013-2014 season, Quinnipiac wins 14 conference regular season games. It will sweep the bottom seven, split with Siena and get swept by the top two (Fairfield and Marist). The average fan will gripe about 19 wins, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of considering a tough out-of-conference schedule with six of the nine games away from Hamden. At times the freshmen and sophomores will have growing pains with increased playing time, but it will all pay off in the end. Fabbri and associate head coach Mountain McGilvery hone in on improvement each week to lead the Bobcats on a run to the MAAC tournament final. However, Door 2 ends in the second-round of the NIT.
Door 3 (16-13, 12-8 MAAC and a 5th place finish)
The loss of Jen Fay will prove to be too much to overcome. Freshmen Brittany Martin and Aryn McClure turn in poor rookie seasons. Sarah Shewan is out-muscled down low, Katie Carroll can’t overcome the nagging elbow injury and Paula Strautmane can only do so much. However, the team has enough talent to earn a first-round bye in Albany, but bows out in the semis. Come April, the Bobcats are disappointed but are equally as excited for the 2016-2017 season as they only lose Maria Napolitano and Carroll to graduation and welcome four new bright stars.
