Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Josh Silverman
The Quinnipiac women’s basketball team is riding a seven game winning streak. Below are my three keys to success in order to defeat Saint Peters Tuesday Feb. 2.
Passing the Ball
The past two games, the Bobcats played have arguably their best games of the season. They put up a whopping 94 points against then first-place Siena and then 85 points against Monmouth, a team that handed the Bobcats a loss just weeks prior. This team is completely different team since the Monmouth loss and they’re numerous reasons as to why. The team’s continuity and chemistry is just a starter. With improvement has come efficiency of passing the ball. The Bobcats used to force up the first shot in a possession, but now they don’t. They get set up and pass the ball around to create easier shots. Since the winning streak has started, the Bobcats haven’t scored less than 26 points in the paint. Especially in the last two games, this team has been hot and they’ve been spreading the ball around. Four players had at least 10 points. No one player is dominating the box score which should help continue the winning streak against Saint Peters.
Control the long balls
Since Quinnipiac has been on this winning streak, they’ve lowered the amount of 3-pointers they’ve shot. This has been another recipe for success for the team. By keeping the amount of three pointers down, they have been able to take more high percentage shots. Although they have some great players that can shoot the three, they’re so much more efficient from the paint.
Bench Contribution
After Quinnipiac’s bench put up 47 points against Monmouth, Associate Head Coach Mountain MacGillivray said while that is a great stat, he doesn’t believe his team really has a bench. Instead, they have a complete team. Because of the way it runs its offense, Quinnipiac needs its bench as much as its starters. In the beginning of the year it couldn’t establish a rhythm, but now halfway through the conference schedule, the rotation is smooth. Especially in the second half, Quinnipiac can turn up the jets because of its depth. And that will improve when Edel Thornton and Katie Carroll return to action.
