QU Women’s Basketball Falls to Georgetown, 80-68, in Opening Round of TD Bank Classic

Friday, November 27

Patrick Gymnasium - Burlington, VT

5:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

3-2

Georgetown

3-1

Georgetown

Quinnipiac

QU Women’s Basketball Falls to Georgetown, 80-68, in Opening Round of TD Bank Classic

11/27/2015 7:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

BURLINGTON, Vermont – Trailing by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team couldn't dig out of their largest deficit of the season as the Bobcats fell to Georgetown, 80-68, at the TD Bank Classic on the campus of the University of Vermont. Quinnipiac's loss snaps a three-game winning streak and moves the Bobcats into the Consolation Game where they will face the loser of Vermont vs. St. Francis Brooklyn at 5 PM on Saturday.

The first all-time meeting between the two sides was largely one-sided as Georgetown finished 51.6 percent (33-64 FG) from the floor and caused 17 Bobcat turnovers on the other end. As a team, the Bobcats shot 34.3 percent (23-67 FG) but just 27 percent (10-37 FG) in the first half and struggled at the free throw line going 14-for-27 (51.9 percent).

Maria Napolitano (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Bobcats in scoring for the second straight game with 16 points but struggled from the field as she finished 6-for-21 and 2-for-9 from distance. Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) was highly effective in her 14 minutes as she matched her career-high with 15 points, including 12 in the second half alone, on 4-for-6 shooting, 3-for-5 from three and 4-for-5 at the free throw line. Manz rounded out her stat sheet with four rebounds, two blocks and one steal in just 14 minutes of action.

Georgetown's offense came out of the gates firing on all cylinders as the Hoyas' lead hit double digits before the five-minute mark of the opening quarter. Quinnipiac took their lone lead of the game on an Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) three-pointer 57 seconds into the game but the Hoyas led the rest of the way after reclaiming a 4-3 lead just six seconds later.

Quinnipiac's offense finally gained some traction early in the second quarter as Napolitano cut to the basket and finished a great pass from Edel Thronton (Cork, Ireland). Brittany Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) followed by caning a three-pointer from the corner to cut the deficit to the smallest margin the Bobcats would see for the rest of the game at 30-18.

Over the course of the first three quarters, the Hoyas' combination of size and speed created mismatch problems which led to easy buckets in the paint all night for Georgetown. For the game, the Hoyas owned a 52-28 advantage in points scored in the painted area.

Despite trailing 47-28 at the half, the Bobcats would not go away quietly as Quinnipiac outscored Georgetown 40-33 in the second half. Manz and her 12 second half points certainly kept the Bobcats close in this one but the shots kept falling for the Hoyas as GU shot 48.4 percent (15-31 FG) in the second half after shooting 54.5 percent (18-33) in the opening stanza.

Sarah Shewan's (Russell, Ontario) layup trimmed the lead to 16 points with 9:07 remaining and a Martucci steal created an opening to cut deeper into Hoyas' advantage but a Bobcat turnover on the other end followed by an easy GU fast break layup only strengthened the lead for the opposition.

Quinnipiac looks to get back on the winning side on Saturday at 5 PM as the Bobcats will take on the loser of the Vermont vs. St. Francis Brooklyn game later on Friday evening.