Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Josh Silverman
The Quinnipiac Bobcats lost to a conference opponent in the Monmouth Hawks on Jan. 19. The conference loss was Quinnipiac’s first in 318 days, when they lost to Iona in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game last March.
The loss ended Quinnipiac’s quest for an unbeaten conference season and their streak of 25 consecutive regular season conference victories.
The Hawks were able to hold the Bobcats to an uncharacteristic 25 percent from the field, their worst in a conference game in over a year. Quinnipiac’s stout defense wasn’t able to combat their offensive woes and it fell by a mere three points.
Next up for the Bobcats is the red-hot Rider Broncs, who have won six out of their last seven games (the only defeat being a one-point overtime loss to Fairfield). The Broncs are right on the Bobcats’ tail in the MAAC standings, trailing by a single victory.
In the first meeting between these two teams on Dec. 30, the Bobcats put up a season-high 91 points. Although Quinnipiac came away with a victory, it wasn’t able to contain Rider’s senior guard Robin Perkins. Perkins, who is still giving Quinnipiac nightmares and is currently second in the MAAC in scoring, dropped 33 on the Bobcats.
Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri and her staff will have to put together a game plan to stop Perkins if they want the best shot of winning the game.
However, history is on the Bobcats’ side. Since joining the MAAC in 2013, Quinnipiac has never lost to Rider.
With that being said, this is a different Rider team than Quinnipiac has seen in previous years. Rider is on track to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2012.
If the Bronc’s are going to have a shot at getting the coveted number one seed in the conference, they will need to win this game. Although they have a slightly easier schedule moving forward (remaining opponents have 36 wins to Quinnipiac’s 39), they can’t count on Quinnipiac dropping another conference game.
All eyes in the MAAC will be on this game when the teams tip off at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lender Court in Hamden.