Quinnipiac University
Albany
QU Women's Basketball Pulls Out Thrilling Victory in Final Minutes, 66-62, Over Albany
12/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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HAMDEN, Conn. - Locked in a heated back-and-forth battle throughout, the night belonged to the Quinnipiac women's basketball team as the Bobcats powered past regional powerhouse Albany, 66-62, in the final minutes on Monday night.
Keyed by a sensational all-around game from Samantha Guastella (Red Bank, N.J.), the Bobcats' senior forward finished just three blocks short of tallying a triple-double. Guastella still managed to post a monster line that included 17 points (5-12 FG), 11 rebounds, seven blocks, four assists and four steals. The seven blocks and four steals tied her career-high in the respective categories while she also picked up the eighth double-double of her career.
Quinnipiac's victory is the fourth straight win for head coach Tricia Fabbri's squad as the Bobcats improve to 7-2 on the season. The win is also quite significant for the Bobcats, currently ranked No. 21 in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll, as the Great Danes came into play today with the No. 9 Mid-Major ranking. Albany also represents the third reigning conference champion that Quinnipiac has defeated this season.
Down by as many as 10 points midway through the first half, Quinnipiac wasn't fazed by the early pressure as the Bobcats' senior-laden squad slowly chipped away at the Great Danes' lead.
As the first half clocked whittled down to under three minutes, Martin shouldered the load with back-to-back makes from the charity stripe before draining a huge three-point bucket seconds before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Martin's make from deep gave the Bobcats just a 32-30 hole to dig out of in the second half, a deficit that quickly evaporated on a Gillian Abshire (Washington, D.C.) connection from deep that gave Quinnipiac their first lead since 15:38 in the first half.
The back-and-forth play defined the next 10 minutes of play as the lead never grew to more than three points and the score tied on eight different occasions.
Quinnipiac's determination and response to the early Albany run finally culminated in the game-defining play as Guastella received a pass from Martin in the paint, absorbed the contact and successfully converted a three-point play that put her team ahead for good.
Minutes later, with the Bobcats ahead 58-55, Guastella again came through with perhaps the play of the game. With the shot clock winding down to under five seconds, Guastella found the soft spot in the Albany zone, received the pass from Martin and calmly buried her third three-pointer of the game to give Quinnipiac a six-point lead with just 2:14 remaining.
Albany again threatened to steal the victory as the Great Danes trailed, 63-62, but held the ball with 39 seconds remaining. Needing just two points to take the lead, Albany's Tiana-Jo Carter quickly tossed up a layup in the low post but Quinnipiac's Val Driscoll (Stoughton, Mass.) swatted away the go-ahead attempt. Ostergaard (Vaebaek, Denmark) then rose up, snatched the defensive rebound and buried two free throws to help ice the game away for Quinnipiac.
Jasmine Martin (Sicklerville, N.J.) made a couple key shots in the waning minutes of both stanzas on her way to a 17-point performance. Martin also matched her career-high with five assists to go along with three steals in a season-high 34 minutes. Several other key contributions came from Adily Martucci who netted eight first half points and Nikoline Ostergaard who tallied eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Albany's reigning America East Player of the Year Shereesha Richards was held in check by the interior defensive pressure established by Guastella and Driscoll. In all, Richards finished with 17 points (6-15 FG) and 13 rebounds, but Quinnipiac held her below 60 percent shooting for just the second time this season. Carter also added a double-double of her own with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Quinnipiac returns to action on Wednesday evening as the Bobcats play host to the Drexel Dragons at 7:00 pm from the TD Bank Sports Center.
Before the start of Monday night's game, the Quinnipiac Department of Athletics and Recreation honored Coach Fabbri for earning her 300th career victory on Dec. 7, 2014 against her alma mater Fairfield. Fabbri's 300th elevated her into elite company as she now stands as one of just five Quinnipiac coaches (Burt Kahn, Dan Gooley, Mike Quitko, Rand Pecknold) to reach the 300-win milestone.
Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu
(Director of Athletics and Recreation Jack McDonald; Head Coach Tricia Fabbri; and President John Lahey)
