Three-hundred and sixty-four days ago, the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team walked off the MassMutual Center in disbelief. It had just blown a 17-point lead in its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Game to Marist, 70-66.
A picture of the Bobcats walking off the court is in their locker room. They see it every day before and after practice. It is motivation for Quinnipiac to get back to the championship game, and make the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.
Fast-forward 30 wins, an undefeated home and conference record, and two MAAC Tournament victories later. The Bobcats were back in the championship game, playing Marist. This time the result would be different. This time, the Bobcats overcame Marist and its nine-year title streak, defeating the Red Foxes 72-61.
This time, it’s the Bobcats who are dancing.
“I’m really pleased with how these young ladies have grown from their sophomore year two years ago into the first year in the MAAC to reach the championship game,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “And then this year, to get 31 wins but to get to 23-0 in our second year in the MAAC, it’s just where the program has elevated with these young ladies maturing and growing.”
Just like the previous two tournament games, Quinnipiac got off to a strong start. But when senior guard Gillian “Boo” Abshire picked up her second foul less than eight minutes into the game, and her third foul just 54 seconds into the second half, Fabbri had to trust her backup point guard, Brianah Ramos. The sophomore, who didn’t play a second in last year’s championship game loss, had nine points in nine minutes, shooting 3-for-3 from the field and the line, including one huge play to spark Quinnipiac.
“She [Ramos] was fantastic and I think it’s a microcosm of how our season has been,” Fabbri said. “Every game, all season long, it’s really been someone who has made a play for us to go on to either break the game wide open, or have something like Bri’s play where we were up two, that three-point play put us up five. That was immense.”
The Bobcats were led by captain and tournament MVP Jasmine Martin, who struggled during the regular season, but took over in the MAAC Tournament. Martin averaged 19 points in the three-game slate, including 18 in the championship game, shooting 7-for-15 from the field. Last year’s championship loss brought a message that resonated with Martin and the Bobcats until the final buzzer sounded this year. They weren’t going to lose.
“We knew we were going to win this thing today,” Martin said. “We all had a chip on our shoulder from last year. I think we all just came out and had that ‘refuse to lose’ attitude.”
Quinnipiac’s defense was able to hold All-MAAC First Team selection Madeline Blais to just 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting. The majority of the credit for Blais’ struggle go to forward Samantha Guastella, who battled with the Marist forward all night.
“You have to give credit to Maddy Blais, she’s a great player,” Guastella said. “Her game is a bit similar to mine. She was standing on my toes and I was trying to stand on hers.”
The last time Quinnipiac made the NCAA Tournament was in 2013. The Bobcats were a 13-seed, and lost to Maryland in College Park. This year, Fabbri says her team deserves and hopes to have a higher seed, while playing on a neutral court.
“I really feel we’re an 11 or 12,” she said. “We are sitting on that line. I think that’s really where we deserve to be, to go and face a team at a neutral site with an opportunity to win.”
After everything Fabbri said post-emotional celebration at midcourt, it all came back to one thing — the five seniors, graduate student Val Driscoll, and how they have elevated the Quinnipiac program.
“Their impact was immediate,” Fabbri said. “Their hunger never went away. They are humble in their success and I couldn’t be more proud that group, these seniors and with the addition of Val have done for this program and the university and really has put Quinnipiac women’s basketball on the map in a national scene.”
Quinnipiac will wait until next week to find out its fate in March Madness.
