QU Women's Basketball Visits Holy Cross for Wednesday Night Non-Conference Contest

Wednesday, November 16

Hart Basketball Arena - Worcester, MA

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Holy Cross

QU Women's Basketball Visits Holy Cross for Wednesday Night Non-Conference Contest

11/15/2016 7:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Live Video Live Audio - AM 1220 WQUN QU Game Notes Holy Cross Game Notes

Wednesday's Meeting Marks the Seventh Straight Season in Which Both Teams Meet

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac Bobcats (2-0) at
Holy Cross Crusaders (0-2)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 | 7 PM
Location: Hart Basketball Arena | Worcester, Mass.
All-Time Series vs. Holy Cross: Holy Cross leads 5-4
Last Meeting: W, 74-61 (Nov. 21, 2015 at QU)

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LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
The Quinnipiac women's basketball team could not have envisioned a better start to the 2016-17 season as the Bobcats are fresh off a pair of impressive wins over Florida Gulf Coast at home and Dayton on the road. The Bobcats bring their 2-0 record back on the road in a Wednesday night matchup at Holy Cross from the Hart Basketball Arena in Worcester. Quinnipiac brings a nine-game unbeaten streak on the road into the midweek non-conference contest.

SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS

Holy Cross (0-2) has struggled in the start of the season with a pair of close losses to Manhattan (60-56) and Bryant (76-74) in overtime
Even with the two early losses, Holy Cross has the experience and pedigree to be considered as one of the upper echelon teams in the Northeast region
Now in his 32^nd season, head coach Bill Gibbons has led the Crusaders to a league record 11 Patriot League Championships including 13 trips to national postseason tournaments
The Crusaders were picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing 2015-16 13-17 overall and 10-8 in conference
Holy Cross returns eight letterwinners and three starters to the lineup from last season, including All-Patriot League selection Infiniti Thomas-Waheed
Thomas-Waheed, who was selected to the Patriot League All-Defensive Team in 2015-16, has posted 19 and 23 points in the first two games of this season
Six freshmen joined the Crusaders' squad this season including Lauren Manis who is averaging a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds per game through the first two contests of 2016-17
Holy Cross has been outrebounded by a margin of -10.5 per game this season and has allowed their opponents to shoot 43.1 percent through two games

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST HOLY CROSS

These two regional foes have played consistently over the years as Wednesday's contests marks the seventh straight season in which these two opponents have squared off
Holy Cross leads the all-time series with a 5-4 record in nine meetings
Quinnipiac has evened the ledger against the Crusaders with wins in consecutive seasons as the Bobcats defeated Holy Cross, 74-67, at the 2014 Hall of Fame Challenge from Notre Dame
Adily Martucci's game high 19 points led the way to a 74-61 home win for Quinnipiac last season
Edel Thornton pumped in 10 points and five assists as the then-freshman played the best game of her rookie season

BIG MAAC AWARD
Aryn McClure started the season taking home the league's first MAAC Player of the Week honor of 2016-17 as well as the first of her career. She also took home College Sports Madness' MAAC Player of the Week award, sweeping the week in what was a masterful performance from McClure over the 2-0 week. McClure started with her fifth career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and a career high five blocks in the win over FGCU. She followed that up with 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the comeback win over Dayton, netting 11 of her 12 points in the second half.

WHAT A WIN!
Trailing 17 points with 14:30 remaining, the Bobcats gutted out the largest comeback in the program's Division I history as Quinnipiac came-from-behind to defeat fellow mid-major power Dayton, 63-60, in Ohio on Sunday, Nov. 13. The 17-point Quinnipiac comeback sets a new Div. I record, one better than a 16-point margin overcome in a 68-61 overtime win over Robert Morris back on Feb. 19, 2000.

TURNAROUND FOR THE AGES
Playing in front of a ravenous home fanbase of nearly 2,000 strong cheering for a Dayton team just two seasons removed from a run into the 2015 Elite Eight, the Bobcats were all but out of it trailing 46-29 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. After shooting a paltry 11-for-41 (26.8 percent) overall up to the 4:30 mark of the third quarter, Quinnipiac was nothing short of incredible for the final 14:30 of play. Led by the senior tandem of Morgan Manz and Adily Martucci, the Bobcats finished 13-of-26 (50 percent) in what amounted to a 20-point swing (34-14 run) to end the game.

SPLASH ZONE
The lynchpin behind the victory over Dayton was a career game from Morgan Manz as she posted a monster total going for a career high 19 points (7-15 FG, 3-9 3FG) in a career best 31 minutes which included a decisive bucket in the waning minutes to help seal the win. Eight of her game-high 19 points came in the fourth quarter including a pair of three-pointers and the huge jumper that put the Bobcats up three with 21 seconds to go.

RESUME BOOSTER
Now 2-0 on the season, Quinnipiac opens 2016-17 with two of their most impressive wins in program history. Starting with a 66-56 win over perennial mid-major power Florida Gulf Coast, the Bobcats' 63-60 road win over Dayton comes against a Flyer team that had won six consecutive Atlantic-10 Championships from 2010-15. Between the Bobcats' first two opponents, Quinnipiac defeated a pair of teams that have combined for 453 wins (FGCU: 246-52; Dayton: 207-82), 50.3 wins per season (FGCU: 27.3; Dayton: 23), 77.1 winning percentage, 10 conference titles and five NCAA Tournament victories in the last nine seasons (since 2007-08).

MISSION COMPLETE
After a pair of thrilling meetings in the two seasons prior, the Bobcats finally broke through against Florida Gulf Coast as Quinnipiac dominated defensively in a 66-56 season-opening win at home over the fellow mid-major power. In a matchup pitting two programs ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll, No. 13 Quinnipiac put on a defensive clinic in holding No. 7 FGCU to just 20-of-61 shooting from the floor and 12 percent (3-25 3FG) from three. Quinnipiac's defensive outing from the three-point line is commendable considering FGCU ranked sixth in the nation with 9.3 made three-pointers per game in 2015-16.

BALANCING ACT
Quinnipiac employed a well-balanced stat sheet that saw three Bobcats – Adily Martucci, Aryn McClure and Brittany Johnson – each finish with 14 points in the win. Martucci shot well all day going 6-for-12 from the floor while McClure was solid all around with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five blocks (fifth career double-double) and Johnson's 14-point night represented a career high for the junior guard.

THE 2015-16 REGULAR SEASON
Quinnipiac finished 22-7 overall and 17-3 in league play to earn the 2015-16 MAAC Regular Season Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Quinnipiac clinched its second straight MAAC Regular Season title with a win over Iona in a winner-take-all regular season finale. The regular season title was the Bobcats' third in the four years dating back to the 2012-13 campaign where Quinnipiac was crowned the NEC Regular Season Champions. The Bobcats became just the second MAAC team, joining Marist in 2004-05, to start their conference schedule with three losses and win the remainder of their games to take home the MAAC Regular Season title outright. Quinnipiac entered the MAAC Tournament winners of 17 straight games which was the sixth-longest streak in the nation.

HIGH-POWERED OFFENSIVE ATTACK
Quinnipiac's coaching staff has long preached an up-tempo offensive system and the stats certainly reflect its success as the Bobcats have led their respective conference in scoring offense and assists in four of the last five seasons. Starting in the final two years of the Northeast Conference, Quinnipiac averaged an NEC-leading 67.9 points per game in 2011-12 and 70.5 PPG in 2012-13. That success carried over since joining the MAAC as the Bobcats ranked second in the league at 73.4 PPG in 2013-14 before leading the way again in 2014-15 with a league-record 78.5 PPG as well as 67.5 PPG in 2015-16. Over the last five seasons, Quinnipiac's cumulative scoring average is 71.6 PPG while the team dishes out 16.6 assists per game across the 168-game span.

Scoring Offense Last Five Seasons
Season                                                                 Games      W-L     Pts      PPG    Ast     APG
2011-12                                                                 32              22-10   2173    67.9     470      14.7
2012-13                                                                 33              30-3     2327    70.5     557      16.9
2013-14                                                                 34              21-13   2494    73.4     554      16.3
2014-15                                                                 35              31-4     2749    78.5     685      19.6
2015-16                                                                 34              25-9     2294    67.4     523      15.4
Total                                                                      168            129-39 12,037 71.6     2789    16.6

THAT 70'S SHOW
Since the 2007-08 season, Quinnipiac is 117-15 (.886) in games wherein the Bobcats score 70 or more points, including a 13-1 mark in 2015-16 and 41-2 combined since 2014-15. During 2012-13 (18-0) and 2010-11 (8-0), the Bobcats rolled to undefeated records in each respective season when reaching the scoring plateau.

Season                                                                 Record
2015-16                                                                 13-1
2014-15                                                                 28-1
2013-14                                                                 14-6
2012-13                                                                 18-0
2011-12                                                                 9-3
2010-11                                                                 8-0
2009-10                                                                 5-2
2008-09                                                                 11-1
2007-08                                                                 11-1
Total (Nine Seasons)                                             117-15 (.886)

FOR THE FIRST TIME
An incredible all-around performance from the Bobcats helped lift Quinnipiac to a dominating 90-44 home win over Maine in the WNIT First Round (3/18). Quinnipiac's first national postseason victory saw the Bobcats put up 90+ points for the second time last season (94 vs. Siena – Jan. 24, 2016). Out of all 32 WNIT First Round contests, Quinnipiac's 46-point margin of victory is the largest in the whole round as the next-closest was Drake's 95-59 win over Sacred Heart. Quinnipiac also put up the fourth-most points of any team in First Round action.

SUPER SIZED WIN
Hosting a national postseason game for just the second time ever, Quinnipiac improved to 1-3 all-time in the WNIT with the 46-point margin which goes down as the largest single-game victory in the Bobcats' Division I program history (since 1998-99). During the 2007-08 season, Quinnipiac defeated Brown (85-41) and Wagner (79-35) by 44-point margins which stood as the previous single-game record before Friday night's 46-point drubbing over Maine.

HITTING THAT MAGIC NUMBER
Quinnipiac's 81-63 win over Manhattan (2/23) clinched yet another 20-win campaign for Head Coach Tricia Fabbri. The 10^th20-win season in program history made it five in-a-row as well as the seventh in Fabbri's 21-year coaching career at Quinnipiac. Currently, Quinnipiac is one of just 32 teams across the nation, one of just 15 mid-major programs and one of just three to score five straight 20-win seasons while being a member of two different conferences. Over the last five seasons, Quinnipiac stands with a record of 130-39 for a .769 win percentage which ranks as the 16^th-best overall mark in the nation.

BIG MOVERS IN THE MAAC
Since joining the MAAC in 2013-14, Quinnipiac has reeled off a record of 58-11 (.841) in all games against MAAC opponents and 51-9 (.850) in regular season MAAC games, both records that currently lead all teams in the MAAC. The Bobcats just recently surpassed longtime conference power Marist who owns a mark of 53-15 (.779) against conference foes over the last three seasons and stand 47-13 (.783) in regular season MAAC play.

HOME LOVIN
The TD Bank Sports Center, home of the Quinnipiac Bobcats, has long been one of the most difficult arenas to play at in the country. Since the 2012-13 season, Quinnipiac owns a record of 53-6 (.898) in games played at home. In just the last three seasons (since 2014-15), Quinnipiac owns a mark of 28-2 (.933). That mark easily ranks as the best in the MAAC while it also places them with the 13th-best home win percentage in the nation over the last three seasons. The Bobcats' 14-0 mark at home in 2014-15 made them one of just 14 teams in the nation to finish with an undefeated home record.

THE ULTIMATE CLOSERS
Quinnipiac has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past two seasons when building a first half lead. Currently 19-0 on the season in games in which the Bobcats lead at halftime, the Bobcats are riding a 43-game winning streak since the start of the 2014-15 season in games that Quinnipiac holds the halftime lead. The last game in which Quinnipiac led at halftime and lost was the 2014 MAAC Championship Game to Marist.

PERFECT PAULA
Playing a key role in the WNIT First Round onslaught for Quinnipiac was Paula Strautmane who was perfect from the floor, going 10-of-10 for the game on her way to 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocks in just 21 minutes of action. Appearing in her first career national postseason game, the bright lights and pressure proved to be an afterthought for the rookie as she tallied her third career double-double and set a single-game program record for the most made field goals in a game (10) without a miss. The previous record of 8-for-8 was shared by two Bobcats – Katie Caputi (Jan. 31, 2002) and Kim Misiaszek (Jan. 13, 2001).

GOOD POINT
In what was a truly dynamic all-around effort against Maine, the Bobcats shot a season-high 60.3 percent (38-63 FG) from the floor and 47.8 percent (11-23 3FG) from three-point range while also reaching the 90-point milestone for the second time this season. In the last three seasons (since 2013-14), Quinnipiac has scored 90+ points seven times, in the previous 15 seasons the Bobcats scored 90+ points just three times since joining Div. I. In addition, the last time Quinnipiac shot better than 60.3 percent in a single-game came back on Jan. 14, 2012 in an 85-73 victory over St. Francis University that saw the Bobcats go 60.8 percent from the floor.

SEEING DOUBLE
Both Paula Strautmane (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Sarah Shewan (15 points, 10 rebounds) went for double-doubles in the 90-44 WNIT First Round win over Maine (3/18). Strautmane's 21-points are a season-high for the freshman while Shewan recorded a double-double for the first time in her 67-game career. For Quinnipiac, it marked the first time two Bobcats notched a double-double in the same game since Val Driscoll (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Gillian Abshire (11 points, 15 assists) went to work at Rider on Feb. 26, 2015.

POSTSEASON PRODUCTION
Sarah Shewan's career-high 24-point performance on 10-of-13 shooting (76.9 percent) in the MAAC Quarterfinals against Niagara (3/4) was significant on many levels. The 24 points is the most by a Bobcat in a conference tournament game since Erin Kerner went for 29 back on March 7, 2009 against Monmouth in a 69-67 loss in the NEC Quarterfinals. Shewan's point total represents the most for a Bobcat in a MAAC Tournament game since joining the conference in 2013-14 while it also stands as the most by a Bobcat in a conference postseason victory since Krystal Pressley tallied 25 back on March 5, 2005 against Monmouth in a 75-68 win in the NEC Quarterfinal round.

WINNING WAYS
Quinnipiac graduating its winningest four-year senior class in program history as Maria Napolitano and Katie Carroll picked up their 107^th win to put them past the 2014-15 senior class for the most career wins by a single class in program history. The senior tandem finished with a mark of 107-29 (.787) since the start of the 2012-13 season. The Bobcats' 2014-15 senior class racked up a record of 104-30 (.776) and is now the second-winningest four-year class in program history.

EMERGING INTO A STAR
Named MAAC Rookie of the Week a conference-leading four times in 2015-16, McClure's all-around averages in points (8.6), rebounds (6.8), field goal percentage (45.7), assists (2.0), blocks (1.5) and steals (1.3) per game played a large role in the Bobcats' transcendent second half of the season that was highlighted by a 19-game winning streak. Standing as the only player in the MAAC to lead her respective team in minutes (25.3), rebounding and blocks, McClure was incredible in averaging 10.2 PPG (46.7 FG%), 7.8 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.5 BPG across the Bobcats' unbeaten streak. Her production down the stretch has been unmatched on the team as she posted a line of 11.8 PPG while leading the team in field goal percentage (56.9), rebounding (8.0) and blocked shots (15) in the final eight games of the 2015-16 regular season as she shot worse than 50 percent just one time in the final eight contests down the stretch. Named the 2015-16 Preseason MAAC Freshman of the Year by College Sports Madness, McClure officially was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year, becoming just the second Bobcat in program history to take a conference yearly rookie award.

AWARD WEEK FOR ARYN
Aryn McClure was busy racking up three individual weekly awards the week of Feb. 15 after averaging 18 points on 61.5 percent shooting with eight rebounds for the Bobcats. McClure started the week with her fourth MAAC Rookie of the Week honor this season, passing Siena's Jackie Benitez for the most rookie weekly honors of any player in the conference. She followed with the College Sports Madness MAAC Player of the Week, becoming the first Bobcat to take home that award this season and concluded with a prestigious National Freshman of the Week award handed out by the USBWA. McClure's national rookie of the week award marks the first time in program history that a Bobcat has taken home the honor.

FRESHMAN PHENOM
Aryn McClure was incredible in a regular season home win over Iona (2/12) and the stats certainly reflect her stellar outing as she compiled a career and game-high 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor to go along with nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 37 minutes. McClure's first career 20+ scoring night also stands as the most points for a Quinnipiac freshman in a single-game since Courtney Kaminski went for 23 against Sacred Heart on Feb. 27, 2007.

SHOULDERING THE LOAD
In her rookie season, Paula Strautmane posted a great cumulative all-around stat line of 8.8 PPG (48.3 FG%, 45.7 3FG%, 71.4 FT%), 6.0 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.4 BPG and 1.1 SPG while playing just 21.3 MPG in 2015-16. A three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week honoree, Strautmane tied for the second-most weekly rookie honors in the conference. After not reaching double figures for the first 12 games of her career, Strautmane scored 10+ points in 14 of the last 22 games overall. During the 19-game win streak, Strautmane led the Bobcats in scoring while improving her numbers across the board: 11.1 PPG (48.2 FG%, 50 3FG%, 75.5 FT%), 6.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.3 BPG and 1.3 SPG. An even more telling figure is to look at the beginning of the season as Strautmane scored just 29 points (2.9 PPG) in the first 10 games of the season. Since then, she scored a team-leading 271 points (11.3 PPG) while shooting 106-of-205 (51.7 FG%) from the floor. Her production also peaked in the biggest games of the season as she averaged 12.8 PPG (59.5 FG%), 7.3 RPG and 2.8 APG in four combined games down the stretch of the regular season against the No. 2-4 seeds Iona (twice), Marist and Fairfield.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK RUN
The Quinnipiac women's basketball freshmen went on a complete tear when it comes to MAAC Rookie of the Week awards last season. Aryn McClure (four), Paula Strautmane (three) and Brittany Martin (one) combined for eight honors last season, while the Bobcats won a MAAC record five straight rookie of the week awards. Prior to the Bobcats' record-breaking streak, the last time a team had four straight rookie of the week winners came back in 2012-13 when Iona's Joy Adams claimed four straight two different times in her rookie season while Quinnipiac's three total players who've won rookie of the week honors (Strautmane, McClure and Brittany Martin) is the most since Siena had three rookies win weekly awards back in 2013-14.

POINTS FOR HER ARE A SHEW-AN
One of the most improved Bobcats all last season was Sarah Shewan as she tied for second on the team in scoring at 8.8 PPG. She finished second behind the Bobcats' leading scorer Maria Napolitano in double digit scoring games with 13 while she posted a season-long string of three straight 10+ scoring games in early January. Shewan posted 10+ points in 10 of her last 21 games overall (47.6 percent). A big key for Shewan through the season was her focus on the interior as she has only attempted 32 three-pointers (9-32 3FG) in the last 21 games (1.5 per game) compared to 38 three-point attempts (2.9 per game) in the first 13 games of 2015-16.

STEADY PLAY AT THE POINT
Carly Fabbri settled nicely into the Bobcats' point guard position nicely as she racked up 89 assists to 40 turnovers last season for the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the MAAC and Top 25 in the nation at 2.23. Fabbri racked up 67 assists (3.4 per game) against just 27 turnovers in her last 20 games for an assist/turnover ratio of 2.48. She also went turnover-free in eight of those 20 games.

MO MANZ, MORE PROBLEMS
One of the most important players all last season was the play of Morgan Manz as the senior forward finished second on the team in field goal percentage (47.2) while leading the way in three-point percentage (45.1). Manz led the MAAC in three-point percentage last season and would have bene among the nation's leaders in three-point percentage if she met the two made three-pointers per game minimum average (Manz averaged 1.2 per game). If she were to average 2+ three's per game, Manz's 45.1 three-point percentage would have put her seventh in the nation among all players in NCAA Div. I

MAJOR DONATIONS AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Two players not known for making their free throws (at least to start the season) – Brittany Johnson and Aryn McClure – made profound improvements at the free throw line as the season has gone along. After starting the season 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) in the first 10 games of 2015-16, Johnson has since made 41-of-59 free throws (69.5 percent) over the final 22 games including a streak of 17 straight (most of any Bobcat last season) that was broken at Fairfield (1/22). McClure, meanwhile, started 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) through the first nine games of the season and finished 49-for-74 (66.2 percent) in the last 24 games including a streak of 12 straight makes that was snapped at Canisius (1/17).

B-JOHN BOARDING AMONG THE BEST
One of the biggest surprise on last year's Quinnipiac team was the rebounding at the guard position out of Brittany Johnson. Through 34 games, Johnson sat third on the Bobcats with 57 offensive rebounds (1.67 per game) while also first among the Bobcat guards in rebounds per game (3.2).

NEW FACES IN THE CROWD
Quinnipiac added five true freshmen in 2016-17 (Vanessa Udoji, Taylor Herd, Jaden Ward, Paige Warfel and Katie Grant) as the depth of talent on this year's team rivals any in the history of the program. Ward (6'0), Warfel (6'0) and Grant (6'4) all stand at least six-feet tall while Udoji is a 5-foot-11 wing. Ward, Warfel and Udoji add size, playmaking, shooting and ball handling skills at the forward position while Grant immediately becomes the tallest player on the roster and a shot-blocking threat in the low post. Herd is coming off consecutive season-ending ACL injuries and is ready to contribute immediately at the point guard position in the Bobcats' fast break, up-tempo style of basketball.