QU Women’s Basketball Overcomes Slow Start to Dominate Hartford, 82-59

Saturday, December 10

Chase Arena - West Hartford, CT

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

7-2

Hartford

7-4

QUINNIPIAC

HARTFORD

QU Women’s Basketball Overcomes Slow Start to Dominate Hartford, 82-59

12/10/2016 5:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Brittany Johnson (Pictured) Goes For Career High 16 Points, 12 Bobcats Record at Least Two Points in the 23-Point Win

By: QU Sports Information

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut – Facing an 11-point deficit just 4:30 into play, the Quinnipiac women's basketball stormed back to go up 13 at the half and finished off a dominating 82-59 win over in-state foe Hartford on Saturday afternoon from Chase Arena.

With the win, the Bobcats improve to 7-2 on the year, as the Bobcats claimed their fourth 20+ point victory of the season. Quinnipiac led by as many as 25 in the second half, before taking their fourth straight win over their in-state rival. Hartford drops their second straight game, falling to 7-4 on the year with the loss.

After shooting a season-low 27.9 percent (17-61 FG) from the floor in Tuesday night's loss to national power Michigan State, the Bobcats responded in a big way hitting on a season-high 50.9 percent of their attempts from the floor (29-57 FG). The three-point line was a big key to success as Quinnipiac drained finished a season-best 47.1 percent (8-17 3FG) from behind the arc in the win.

Brittany Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio) enjoyed a career game as she pumped in a career and game high 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from three-point territory. The junior forward contributed in several other areas other than scoring as she also tallied six rebounds and a season high three stelas in just 19 minutes. Johnson's third double digit scoring output of the season was good enough for a career-best – surpassing her 14-point total in the 2016-17 season opening win over Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 11.

Several other Bobcats played well in the win as all 11 players in the typical "Gold Rush" rotation notched at least three points. Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) joined Johnson in double figures with 13 points to go along with four rebounds, two steals and a career high five assists in 18 minutes. Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) and Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) each went for nine points while Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) filled up the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals in just 20 minutes of action.

Just one game removed from a disastrous 18-1 run that helped Michigan State run away with a victory, Quinnipiac started poorly for the second straight contest. Some stifling defense from the Hawks combined with a couple makes from behind the arc led directly to an 11-0 run and 13-2 Hartford lead after just 4:30 of play.

Desperately needing a game-changing play, Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) came up with a huge steal at midcourt and later dished to Strautmane on the fastbreak for the easy finish. That play, coupled with some hot shooting from the three-point line, started one of the most impressive 10-minute stretches of the season for Quinnipiac as the Bobcats closed the first half on a 38-14 run.

All but one of the Bobcats' field goals in the second quarter resulted in either a three-pointer or three-point play as Quinnipiac outscored the Hawks, 26-10, in the second stanza alone. Five different Bobcats cashed in with one three-pointer in the second. Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher, Ireland) swished a three-pointer from the wing 3:46 into the quarter giving Quinnipiac their first lead of the game, an advantage they wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of play.

Shots fell for both teams in the third quarter as the Bobcats went 7-for-10 in the stanza as Quinnipiac's advantage ballooned to as many as 20 towards the closing stages of the quarter. Strautmane was the featured player of the third as she either scored or assisted on 10 of 17 points scored when her "Gold Rush" unit was on the floor (six minutes).

Hartford gutted out a 7-0 run to close the deficit to as few as 12 points with 6:39 remaining but Quinnipiac was quick to answer with an 8-0 run of their own on their way to finishing the 82-59 victory.

Relying heavily on the three-point shot against MSU (31 three-point attempts compared to 61 total field goal attempts), the Bobcats reestablished themselves along the interior as Quinnipiac outscored Hartford 38-16 on points in the paint for the game. The offensive success from down low translated in the rebounding department as Quinnipiac owned a +7 advantage on the boards (40-33).

Quinnipiac heads into finals week on campus armed with a 7-2 overall record and will enjoy an eight-day lull between games. Next up for the Bobcats is a trip out to Las Vegas where Quinnipiac will compete in the Play4Kay Shootout in the T-Mobile Arena from Dec. 19-21. The Bobcats open with New Mexico State and will face either Oregon State or UNLV on Dec. 20 depending on the results of the first round.