Quinnipiac University
Saint Peter''s
QU Women's Basketball Extends Winning Streak to Nine Straight With 81-50 Victory at Saint Peter's
2/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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JERSEY CITY, New Jersey – All 15 Bobcats that dressed on Sunday scored as a total team effort carried the way to Quinnipiac's 81-50 victory at Saint Peter's from the Yanitelli Center. Quinnipiac's victory ups the Bobcats' winning streak to nine straight while QU (19-3) remains undefeated and atop the MAAC standings (11-0). Saint Peter's falls to 2-18 overall and 2-9 in MAAC play.
Samantha Guastella (Red Bank, New Jersey) found her shooting stroke, scoring 12 of her 16 points in the second half after having to sit most of the first stanza due to foul trouble. After scoring five points in two straight games, the Bobcats' leading scorer this season was on her game with a 5-for-8 performance from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point land.
Jasmine Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) turned it on offensively and finished with 15 points (6-11 FG; 3-6 3FG). The ignitor for the Quinnipiac attack all afternoon, Martin's scoring kept QU in front early and helped create some separation late as her 15-point game is the most for her in a game since she tallied 21 on Jan. 11 at Niagara.
Each member of the Bobcat starting unit contributed to the victory as Gillian Abshire (Washington, D.C.) scored seven while dishing out seven assists, Val Driscoll (Stoughton, Massachusetts) dominated the glass with 14 rebounds to go along with six points, three assists and two blocks while Nikoline Ostergaard (Vedbaek, Denmark) worked her way to seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
The productivity of the Bobcat bench continued as all 10 QU substitutes scored at least one point for the second straight game. Sophomore Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) took advantage of a boost in minutes due to Guastella's first half foul trouble and finished with six points and four rebounds. Junior Maria Napolitano (Cincinnati, Ohio) tied with Manz for the team-lead in points off the bench with six, freshman Sarah Shewan (Russell, Ontario) chipped in five points and four rebounds while fellow classmate Jennifer Fay (Lynbrook, New York) was all over the floor with four points, four rebounds, three steals and one block.
Even though the Bobcats held the lead wire-to-wire, they faced a gamely Saint Peter's squad that created problems for Quinnipiac. The Peacocks matched the Bobcats bucket-for-bucket throughout a wide portion of the first half and even outshot QU in the opening stanza. Even with the first half issues, Quinnipiac owned an impressive edge behind the arc as the Bobcats hit four three-pointers in the first half and finished the game with 11. Meanwhile, the Peacocks missed on all six of their attempts from long range as the Bobcats held an opponent without a three-point field goal for the first time this season.
Quinnipiac's lead grew to no more than seven points in the first 20 minutes but a strong 5-0 start less than two minutes into the game forced the Peacocks to call timeout. With the Bobcats ahead 9-2 later in the half, Saint Peter's countered with an 8-2 run where the QU offense grew stagnant while SPU hit on their open jumpers.
Again leading by seven later in the half, 22-15, Quinnipiac couldn't close out on the SPU shooters in time as the Peacocks ripped off a 10-4 run that again nipped the gap to just one point. Manz helped lead the Bobcats into halftime as her second make from long range in the first half gave QU the momentum while four makes from the charity stripe helped give Quinnipiac the 35-29 halftime lead.
The six-point Quinnipiac lead quickly turned into an 18-point advantage less than five minutes into the second half as Martin, Guastella and Napolitano all drained three-point field goals to finally create some separation. Both sides traded buckets for the next five minutes before the QU starters exited for the final time on Sunday with the Bobcats ahead, 64-41.
Several members of the Bobcat bench played solid minutes down the stretch as Coach Tricia Fabbri's squad wore down the Peacocks over time and closed out the 81-50 victory.
Saint Peter's was led by Sajanna Bethea who finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Samantha Meier (eight points, six rebounds) and Hala Mostafa (eight points) also helped carry the load for the Peacocks on the afternoon.
After playing two games in 43 hours, Quinnipiac will enjoy a five-day break before hosting Rider on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1:00 pm.
Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu
