Four Bobcats Hit Double Figures as QU Women’s Basketball Dominates Northeastern, 76-59

Sunday, November 20

Hamden, CT

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

4-0

Northeastern

2-2

Northeastern

Quinnipiac

Four Bobcats Hit Double Figures as QU Women’s Basketball Dominates Northeastern, 76-59

11/20/2016 5:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Quinnipiac (4-0) Continues Best Start to a Season Since 2012-13

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – Another stifling defensive outing paved the way to the fourth straight win for Quinnipiac women's basketball to open the season as the Bobcats cruised past Northeastern, 76-59, on Sunday afternoon from the TD Bank Sports Center. Quinnipiac remains unbeaten at 4-0 in 2016-17 while the Huskies drop their second straight and stand 2-2 on the season.

In a game that saw Quinnipiac hold Northeastern to just five points in the first quarter and 16 in the first half alone, defense played a leading role in the 17-point home win. Northeastern was held without a field goal for the first 8:26 of play as the Huskies opened the game 0-of-8 from the field and finished just 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) in the first half while committing 14 turnovers.

Scoring spread between multiple players once again for Quinnipiac as the "Gold Rush" (subbing five players in-and-out each rotation) was in full effect, as no Bobcat saw more than 21 minutes of game action. Ten different Bobcats scored on the afternoon, just one game removed from seeing 13-of-15 players score in a 78-55 road win over Holy Cross.

Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) was efficient in her 17 minutes as she picked up a game and season high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting including a 3-for-5 clip from three-point range. Shooting 50 percent from the floor this season (19-38 FG) and 46.2 percent from three (6-13 3FG), Martucci's 12 points per game average currents leads the team.

Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) was incredibly productive in her 18 minutes of action as she notched a season high 12 points (6-11 FG) to go along with six rebounds, four steals and three assists while going turnover-free. As a team, the Bobcats proved successful in handling the Northeastern defensive pressure as Quinnipiac tallied 26 assists (season high) against just 11 turnovers for a season-best 2.36 assist/turnover ratio.

Two more Bobcats hit double figures as Brittany Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) and Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) each tallied 10 points on the afternoon. Martin's season high point total came on 3-for-5 shooting and 2-of-4 from deep as she added three assists in her 20 minutes. Fay posted consecutive double digit outings as she finished 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-3 from deep just one game removed from matching her career high with 11 points at Holy Cross on Wednesday.

Both teams struggled shooting in the first quarter as the two sides combined to shoot 7-for-29 (24.1 percent) in the opening 10 minutes of play. While both defenses came to play early, Quinnipiac's offense benefitted from a pair of three-pointers from Martucci and Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) while Strautmane picked up a pair of key buckets early as the Bobcat lead hit 12-5 after one.

After struggling in the first, Quinnipiac's offense (specifically Strautmane) caught fire as the halftime lead shifted heavily in favor of the Bobcats, 33-16. Strautmane was heavily involved in the second stanza as she finished with eight points and five rebounds in the quarter, accounting for over half her points and all but one of her rebounds for the game.

The fans enjoyed an offensive breakout coming out of the halftime as Quinnipiac put up 29 points (season high for a single-quarter) while the Huskies countered with 26 in the third quarter alone. Even with the back-and-forth production, the Bobcat lead swelled to as many as 26 as the Huskies could not stop the three-point shot watching Quinnipiac shoot 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Five different players hit a three-pointer in the quarter for the Bobcats including one from Martucci in the final seconds that gave Quinnipiac a 62-42 advantage.

Northeastern attempted to pull some late-game magic with a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter but consecutive makes from Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) in the paint followed by a Fay triple pushed the Bobcats back out in front by 22 before finishing off the 76-59 victory.

Over the last two games, Quinnipiac's defense has forced 47 turnovers (Holy Cross 25, Northeastern 22) while committing just 26 on the offensive end. That +21 edge in turnover margin has translated into a 50-16 edge in points-off-turnover for the Bobcats. In addition, Quinnipiac's defense at the three-point line has been clinical all season as their four opponents have combined to shoot just 19.7 percent (15-76 3FG) in four games.

Quinnipiac continues their best start to a season since 2012-13 and will enjoy the Thanksgiving week at home before returning to action on Sunday, Nov. 27 at Temple in Philadelphia. The two sides met twice last season (both in Hamden) with each side taking a two-point victory. Quinnipiac defeated the Owls, 58-56, on Nov. 24, 2015 but Temple got one back on the Bobcats in the WNIT Second Round with a 64-62 win in Hamden.