Quinnipiac University
Monmouth
QU Women's Basketball Becomes First MAAC School to Finish 20-0 in Conference Play With 87-48 Takedown of Monmouth
3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey – The Quinnipiac women's basketball team became just the sixth team to complete a perfect MAAC regular season on Sunday afternoon, as the Bobcats improved to 20-0 with a 87-48 victory over Monmouth at the MAC. With the win, Quinnipiac wins their 18th straight, improves to 28-3 overall and becomes the first team in MAAC history (est. 1980) to finish with a 20-0 regular season conference record.
Quinnipiac, the 2014-15 MAAC Regular Season Champions and No. 1 seed for the upcoming MAAC Tournament, await the winner of the First Round matchup between No. 8 Canisius (10-19, 8-12 MAAC) and No. 9 Monmouth (12-17, 8-12 MAAC) to be played at 9:30 AM on Thursday, March 5. The Bobcats' MAAC Quarterfinal game against the winner of the #8 vs. #9 contest is slated for Friday, March 6 at 12:00 PM from the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
Quinnipiac's historic regular season joins Marist (3 times; 18-0 in '07-08, '10-11, '12-13) and Saint Peter's (2 times; 14-0 in '96-97, 5-0 in '80-81) as the only teams to have gone undefeated in MAAC league play. Another impressive feat accomplished by the Bobcats with the victory is Quinnipiac has now gone undefeated in conference play twice in three seasons (18-0 in '12-13 NEC season).
Sunday's showdown with Monmouth ended in another blitzing as the Bobcats slugged through a poor first half shooting performance but dominated the Hawks in the second half. After shooting just 10-for-36 (27.8 percent) in the first half, the Bobcats turned around and hit on 18-of-35 (51.4 percent) second half shots including 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from long range. Quinnipiac finished the game matching their season-high in made three-pointers (14; prev. Dec. 5 vs. Siena).
Leading the second half shooting spree was Maria Napolitano (Cincinnati, Ohio) who finished with 17 points (5-11 FG, 4-9 3FG), 13 scored in the second half, and four rebounds. Her 17-point afternoon was just two points shy of matching her season-high while it was good enough for her sixth double-digit scoring game of the season and first since Jan. 18 against Manhattan (11 games ago).
Val Driscoll (Stoughton, Massachusetts) controlled the middle once again, adding to her impressive week with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in just 19 minutes against the Hawks. Driscoll's double-double is her fifth straight and seventh of the season. She feasted off the offensive glass (seven offensive rebounds) and became the first Bobcat in QU's Div. I history (since 1998-99) to tally five straight double-doubles. Driscoll has been playing her best ball of the season in the last five games with averages of 19.8 PPG, 66.7 FG%, 93.9 FT%, 10.4 RPG and 3.4 BPG all in just 23.2 MPG.
Samantha Guastella (Red Bank, New Jersey) torched the net in the second half, scoring 12 of her 15 points in the second stanza on 4-for-5 shooting from long range. Guastella ups her streak to 28 straight games with at least one three-pointer while she added one block in the winning effort.
Jasmine Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) was the lone Bobcat to hit shots in the first half as she scored 12 of her 14 points in the opening 20 minutes. Her 14-point game also made a little history as Martin now has 1,610 career points, becoming just the third Bobcat in program history (Francine Perry '85 1,855, Erin Kerner '09 1,799) to reach the 1,600 career point mark. Martin posted her 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting and 3-for-8 from deep while also continuing to play great all-around defense with two steals.
Another great all-around game that included five points, nine assists and two turnovers puts Gillian Abshire (Washington, D.C.) in commanding position to finish the 2014-15 regular season first in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.04). Abshire's nine assists in 18 minutes also gives her 678 career helpers, moving her just four away from passing Maria Holland '86 (681) for first place on the all-time list at Quinnipiac.
First half shooting woes plagued both sides in the early going as the Bobcats started the game going 4-for-17 from the floor but still managed to lock down Monmouth on the other end as the Hawks started 2-for-13 overall and finished the half shooting just 9-for-34 (26.5 percent).
Monmouth's Sarah Olson drained a three-pointer from the wing 42 seconds into the game but that was the only lead for the Hawks on the afternoon as Quinnipiac quickly took the 8-5 advantage and never looked back. Martin's three from the wing helped ignite a QU offense that would go on a 7-0 run midway through the half to start building a commanding advantage.
Martin scored all seven points for the Bobcats during the run which helped set the tone for an 8-0 Quinnipiac run during a two-minute stretch that built the QU lead up to 32-17. Driscoll's play on the interior was key as she scored four quick points before Guastella found her stroke from three-point land with her first make from distance of the game.
Leading 37-22 at the half, Quinnipiac quickly put this one away as Abshire drained her own make from long range before she found Guastella wide open at the wing twice for three-point looks that the senior forward buried to the resounding applause of her impressive contingent of family and friends in attendance.
The hot shooting continued with a Napolitano three-pointer followed by back-to-back jumpers from Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) that extended the QU lead to 26 points.
One more rush from the Bobcat starters was all Quinnipiac needed as Driscoll started the run with five points, followed by two more makes by Guastella from long range. Nikoline Ostergaard (Vedbaek, Denmark) helped finish off the final surge by finding Driscoll first and then Martin later for two-point baskets as the starters exited a final time with the 73-39 lead.
The Bobcat bench, who combined to score another 32 points in the day's action, finished off the 39-point win for Quinnipiac.
The MAAC Tournament is now upon the MAAC Regular Season Champion Quinnipiac as the Bobcats head up to Albany, New York awaiting the results of the First Round before playing on Friday, March 6 at a time still to-be-determined. Quinnipiac will face the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup to be played on Thursday night.
Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu
