Quinnipiac University
Monmouth
QU Women's Basketball Remains Undefeated at Home With Convincing 94-53 Victory Over Monmouth
1/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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HAMDEN, Conn. – The script couldn't have been written any better for the Quinnipiac women's basketball team as the Bobcats rolled past Monmouth, 94-53, on Sunday from the TD Bank Sports Center. Winners of seven straight from Hamden, the Bobcats remain undefeated at home (7-0) and in MAAC play this season (4-0) while also improving to 12-3 overall.
The most impressive Quinnipiac Div. I record that fell on Sunday was the 64 rebounds totaled by the Bobcats in the victory, besting the previous record of 62 set on Feb. 19, 2000 at Robert Morris. The single-game total also stands tall in the history of the conference as Quinnipiac's 64 rebounds are tied for the third-most ever by a MAAC institution in a single-game.
The 41-point throttling at home over the Hawks is the largest margin of victory in the Div. I history of Quinnipiac women's basketball (since 1998-99). In addition, the Bobcats' 26 assists on 33 made field goals matched a single-game Div. I record for Quinnipiac as the assist total matched the 26 dimes handed out against Northeastern on Dec. 30, 2012.
For the second straight game, Samantha Guastella (Red Bank, New Jersey) dominated a MAAC opponent at home as she tallied 17 points to lead all scorers. Guastella rained in shots from deep all afternoon as she finished 4-for-8 from three and 6-of-11 from the floor. The senior forward extends her stellar performance at home this season as she now averages 17.3 points per game while shooting 58.1 percent (43-for-74) from the floor and a blistering 50.9 percent (27-for-53) from three-point range in seven games at home.
All five of Quinnipiac's starters made quite the impact as Guastella's 17 points led the way but Val Driscoll (Stoughton, Massachusetts) netted 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, Jasmine Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) added 10 points and two steals, Nikoline Ostergaard (Vedbaek, Denmark) picked up eight points and six assists and Gilllian Abshire (Washington, D.C.) chipped in five points, six assists and five rebounds.
When combined together, the Bobcats' starting five combined for 51 points on 18-for-34 from the floor and 8-for-16 from three to go along with 23 rebounds, five blocks, four steals and 15 assists against just four turnovers. The strong output was made even more impressive considering each member of the starting five played just 18 minutes.
Just as impressive in the victory as the Quinnipiac bench contingent as nine Bobcat substitutes combined for a season-high 43 points in the victory. Maria Napolitano (Cincinnati, Ohio) led all bench players with 12 points to go along with three steals while Sarah Shewan (Russell, Ontario) posted a monster state line that included nine points, 12 rebounds, two steals, one block and one assists. Other strong performances came from the likes of Jennifer Fay (eight points, six rebounds, three steals, two blocks), Brianah Ramos (five assists, five rebounds) and Adily Martucci (eight points, three rebounds, two assists).
The Bobcats jumped on the Hawks right from the jump as Quinnipiac reeled off a 23-7 run in the first 6:19 of play. As a team, the Bobcats made nine of their first 14 shot attempts while holding the Monmouth scoring attack, which came into Sunday ranked second in the MAAC (67.5 PPG), to just 25 points in the first half. The Hawks' shooting percentage suffered drastically against the Bobcat defense as Monmouth hit just 20.9 percent (9-for-43) of their attempts from the floor, easily a season-low for a Quinnipiac opponent in a game this season.
Armed with the 41-25 advantage at halftime, the Quinnipiac subs took over in the second half as the Bobcat bench scored 37 of the team's 53 points in the second stanza. Leading by 16 points at the half, a quick 8-0 Quinnipiac run coming out of the locker room gave the home team plenty of cushion down the stretch run.
As a team, Monmouth was held to just 21.3 percent shooting which stands as the lowest field goal percentage for a Quinnipiac opponent since Nov. 11, 2007 when the Bobcats held Brown to just 19.6 percent from the floor.
With Monmouth's leading scorer Sarah Olson inactive due to injury, Quinnipiac did a number on the Hawks' second-leading scorer Jenny Horvatinovic as the Bobcats held her to just four points (all of which came on free throws) to go along with five turnovers in 23 minutes. Horvatinovic finished 0-for-7 from the floor as the Bobcats' defensive pressure paid dividends throughout the 40-minute conference duel.
A trip up to Buffalo looms for the Bobcats as Quinnipiac will next play at Canisius on Friday before taking on Niagara on Sunday.
Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu
