MAAC Championship Rematch at Marist Looms for QU Women's Basketball on Thursday

Thursday, December 3

McCann Field House - Poughkeepsie, NY

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Marist

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MAAC Championship Rematch at Marist Looms for QU Women's Basketball on Thursday

12/1/2015 4:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (4-2, 0-0 MAAC) vs.
Marist Red Foxes (0-7, 0-0 MAAC)
Thursday, December 3, 2015 – 7:00 PM
McCann Field House – Poughkeepsie, New York

Follow The Bobcats
Live Audio: AM 1220 WQUN (PxP: Bill Schweizer; Color: Billy Mecca)
Live Stats: GoRedFoxes.com
Live Video: GoRedFoxes.com
QU WBB Twitter: @QU_WBB

Game Notes
Quinnipiac | Marist

MAAC OPENER
Fresh off a 4-2 start to non-conference play, including a thrilling 58-56 victory over high-major foe Temple, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team (4-2, 0-0 MAAC) is ramping up for a 2015 MAAC Championship rematch at the Marist Red Foxes (0-7, 0-0 MAAC). After joining the MAAC only two seasons ago, these two newly formed conference foes have created quite a rivalry, meeting in the MAAC Championship game the last two seasons. The Bobcats swept the Red Foxes in all three meetings in 2014-15, including a stunning 80-62 victory at the McCann Field House. Tip-off is set for 7 PM in the 2015-16 MAAC opener for both teams.

ON THE AIRWAVES
WQUN will provide live audio for the game. The audio link is provided above. Bill Schweizer will be on play-by-play while Billy Mecca will be on color. Free live video will also be available courtesy of Red Fox Network via the free live video link available above.

SCOUTING THE RED FOXES
Marist (0-7), the No. 2 pick in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, has played the toughest schedule of any MAAC team as the Red Foxes have fallen to South Dakota State, Creighton, Delaware, St. John's (N.Y.), Louisville, LSU and Missouri State this season. Even though Marist does not yet have a victory on the season, the Red Foxes have the two most talented players in the conference in seniors Tori Jarosz and Sydney Coffey. Both Preseason First Team All-MAAC selections, Coffey has a storied career as the 2014 MAAC Tournament MVP and 2014-15 All-MAAC Third Team selection while Jarosz was one of the league's most dominant players in 2014-15 as she was a 2014-15 MAAC First Teamer averaging 17.1 PPG, 9.5 RPG and 2.6 BPG last season. Through seven games this season, Jarosz has been the Red Foxes' main scoring threat with a stat line of 13 PPG (44.4 FG%), 9.1 RPG and 2.4 BPG. Coffey has been in a shooting funk through the first seven games as she is averaging 10 PPG but shooting just 31.1 percent (19-61 FG) from the floor and 23.1 percent (6-26 3FG) from three for the season. Without a true point guard on the roster, Coffey has taken the role as Marist's distributor with 25 assists this season which stands more than twice as many as the next-closest Red Fox. Allie Clement (8.4 PPG, 40.5 3FG%) has stepped into a larger role in her sophomore season following the transfer of four letterwinners from last year's roster including the team's leading scorer Madeline Blais. As a team, Marist is averaging just 51.1 PPG but much has to do with the difficulty of their schedule at this point in the season. This will be just the second home game for Marist this season and the first since Nov. 19 against Delaware (L, 56-50).

SERIES HISTORY VS. MARIST
The Bobcats and Red Foxes are quite familiar with one another as this will be the sixth meeting between both sides in just two seasons in the MAAC together. Prior to 2013-14, these two sides hadn't met since 1985. Fast forward to 2015-16 and these teams have played in two straight MAAC Championship games, with each side taking one title. Quinnipiac became the first school since Siena in 2003-04 to sweep the Red Foxes in the regular season as QU defeated Marist, 73-55, at home and 80-62 on the road.

MAMA MARIA…MAMA MARIA!
In three games since returning from injury, Maria Napolitano has caught fire averaging a team-leading 16 points in just 24 minutes per game. In those three games, Napolitano has racked up 48 points, which is more than twice as many as the next-closest Bobcat (23 point) in that span. She is coming off one of the best games of her career as she matched her single-game career-best with 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting and 7-for-8 at the line in a 77-65 win at Vermont.

SCORING ASSASSIN
Maria Napolitano has been scoring at a fever pitch in her four games this season as she is averaging 12 PPG but her average of 25.3 PPG/40 minutes ranks as the second-highest in the entire MAAC. Due to her playing less than 20 minutes per game, her points per game average sits just tied for 9^th in the MAAC. Out of all the players in the country, Napolitano sits tied for 102^nd in the nation in points per 40 minutes.

B-JOHN STEPPING INTO THE LIMELIGHT
One of the Bobcats' key offensive contributors in the 77-65 win at Vermont was sophomore guard Brittany Johnson. Finishing second on the team in minutes with 21, Johnson tallied a new career-high with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the 12-point victory. Johnson added three rebounds and two assists as she more than doubled her scoring output on the season with the 10-point effort.

BENCH PRESSED INTO ACTION
Quinnipiac's patented "Gold Rush" strategy of subbing five players in-and-out at a time has paid strong dividends lately as the Bobcats are outscoring their opponents 189-99 in bench points this season (27 bench points per game). The dominance has only magnified in the Bobcats' three games winning streak as Quinnipiac outscored Hartford, Holy Cross, Temple and Vermont by a combined score of 133-65.

TURNOVERS TURNING INTO POINTS
Quinnipiac's depth and pressure defense paid dividends at Vermont, forcing the Catamounts into 24 turnovers for the game including 19 in the first half alone. On the season, the Bobcats are forcing an average of 21.2 turnovers per game which has translated into 97 points off turnovers (13.9 per game) through seven games this season.

HIGH MAJOR UPSET
Quinnipiac's 58-56 win over Temple out of the American Athletic Conference signifies another huge step for the program as the victory marks the fourth win for the Bobcats over a high-major in program history. The three other high-major victories included wins over Alabama, Minnesota and Syracuse but the Bobcats' win over the Owls marks two straight seasons in which Quinnipiac has scored a victory over a high-major program (Alabama; W, 73-66; Nov. 30, 2014).

TAKING THE TOP THREAT AWAY
A huge key behind the Bobcats' success this season has been on the defensive end, specifically against the opponent's top scoring threat. In a recent three-game span, Quinnipiac has shut down Hartford's Deanna Mayza (nine points; 3-14 FG, six turnovers), Holy Cross' Raquel Scott (seven points, 3-6 FG) and Temple's Feyonda Fitzgerald (13 points, 5-17 FG, four turnovers). All three of which came in as the team's leading scorer (Fitzgerald 4^th NCAA in scoring) and all were held at least seven points below their season averages.

TEMPLE TEMPING EXPECTATIONS
The closing 30+ seconds where three Owl shots went begging was indicative of the entire game which saw Quinnipiac lock down Temple's high-flying backcourt duo of Fitzgerald and Butts. Coming into the game averaging a combined 45.7 points, 10 rebounds, 9.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game, Fitzgerald (13 points, 5-17 FG, 1-5 3FG, three rebounds, four turnovers) and Butts (seven points, 3-10 FG, 1-6 3FG, one rebound, three turnovers) were held to season-lows across the board including 20 points on 8-for-27 shooting (29.6 percent) and 2-for-11 from three (18.2 percent) with four rebounds and seven turnovers.

HOME SWEET HOME
Quinnipiac's 58-56 victory over Temple prolonged the Bobcats' dominance at home, extending the team's winning streak to 17 straight at the TD Bank Sports Center. The 17-game unbeaten streak ties the longest such streak in program history, matching the winning streak that extended from the 2012-13 NEC Championship season into the 2013-14 campaign. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Head Coach Tricia Fabbri's squad now stands at 42-4 (91.3 win percentage) in games played at home.

GOTCHA!
Quinnipiac's pressure defense harassed Holy Cross into 25 turnovers, including 18 in the first half, in the Bobcats' 74-61 home win. For the game, Quinnipiac tallied 17 steals which stands as the most for QU in a single-game since finishing with 19 in a 62-49 win over Hartford on Dec. 4, 2013.

EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE
One of the key stats from the Bobcats' 13-point home win over Holy Cross is seen in the second chance points category as Quinnipiac converted 17 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points. On the other end, Holy Cross was limited to just nine offensive rebounds and two second chance points for the game, giving Quinnipiac the 20-2 edge in the statistical category.

TIME TO MANZ UP
Stepping into a starring role for the first time in her career, Morgan Manz finishing with a team-high 15 points with six rebounds, four assists and two blocks in a team-high 29 minutes against Hartford. Manz established new career highs in points, assists, blocks and minutes in the victory while it marked the first time in her three-year career in which she led the team in scoring.

HITTING THE GLASS
Quinnipiac hit the boards hard in the Bobcats' 71-69 overtime victory as the team grabbed 50 total rebounds including 23 on the offensive end. The Bobcats' 23 offensive rebounds ties for the most the team has had since grabbing 27 offensive boards on Dec. 29, 2013 against Niagara. In Quinnipiac's 2015 MAAC Championship season, the Bobcats posted a season-high of 23 offensive rebounds once while meeting the 50+ rebound mark nine times in 35 games.

McCLURE MAKING HISTORY
Aryn McClure's monster game in the team's win over Hartford (10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in 27 minutes) made history as she became the fastest Bobcat in program history to record her first career double-double (two games). The previous fastest in Quinnipiac's Div. I history was Val Driscoll who notched 20 points and 15 rebounds four games into her Bobcat career on Nov. 24, 2014.

B-MART OPEN FOR BUSINESS
In what hopefully marks the start of many more to come, Quinnipiac's freshman Brittany Martin became just the second Bobcat in program history to take home MAAC Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 16. Martin flashed tons of scoring potential in the Bobcats' season opener as she pumped in 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 2-of-4 from three and 6-of-6 at the free throw line in a team-high 29 minutes of action. She joins Adily Martucci, who won the award back on Dec. 30, 2013, as the lone two Bobcats to take home the individual honor.

PAULA PUTTING IN WORK
It's a particularly rare feat for a player to snag double digit rebounds in less than 20 minutes played but it's even more impressive for the player to do so in her first career game. Paula Strautmane (10 rebounds in 19 minutes) posted quite the debut on the boards as she became the first player in program history to grab 10+ rebounds in less than 20 minutes in her first career game. She also became the first player in Quinnipiac's Div. I history to grab at least 10 rebounds in her first career game, the next closest Bobcat grabbed eight rebounds in their first collegiate appearance.

DEFENSE-FIRST
Quinnipiac's harassing pressure defense forced Army West Point into multiple mistakes as the Black Knights committed 16 turnovers for the game, including 10 in the first quarter alone. The Bobcats' "Gold Rush" unit that saw 12 players enter the game and 10 compile at least 10 minutes of playing time, forced a usually sure-handed Army team into many mistakes. The Black Knights' team committed 16+ turnovers just three times in 31 games last season.