Defense Dominates for QU Women’s Basketball in 49-46 Play4Kay Shootout Win over New Mexico State

Monday, December 19

T-Mobile Arena - Las Vegas, NV

6:00 PM (EST)

Quinnipiac University

8-2

New Mexico State

7-4

QUINNIPIAC

NEW MEXICO ST

Defense Dominates for QU Women’s Basketball in 49-46 Play4Kay Shootout Win over New Mexico State

12/19/2016 10:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bobcats Win Scoring Less than 50 Points for Just Second Time in Program History, First Time in Over 40 Years

By: QU Sports Information

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – For a team built on the strength of its defense, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team pitched the equivalent of a complete game shutout in baseball with a 49-46 victory over two-time defending Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Champion New Mexico State in the Play4Kay Shootout from the T-Mobile Arena on Monday afternoon.

With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 8-2 on the season while the Aggies drop to 7-4 in 2016-17. The Bobcats advance in the winner's bracket to a second round showdown with either Oregon State or UNLV on Tuesday at 8 PM (11 PM EST). Both the Beavers (No. 25) and Rebels (receiving votes) are represented in the AP Top 25 poll.

Leading the MAAC and ranking 48^th in the nation in field goal percentage defense (35.4) coming in, Quinnipiac has built a reputation this season as the stingiest defense in the MAAC and one of the toughest in the country. That season-long identity showed itself as Quinnipiac overcame offensive struggles to record just the second win scoring less than 50 points in program history. The only other instance Quinnipiac accomplished that feat came in the program's first-ever game, a 48-34 victory over Hartford on Jan. 27, 1975 (1,117 games ago).

Both teams (QU – 71.6, NMSU 72.8) were averaging more than 70 points per game at the start of play but it was clear from the start that made baskets were going to be hard to come by in this highly-anticipated mid-major showdown.

Quinnipiac managed its best continued run of offense early in play as the Bobcats jumped out to a 10-3 lead just 4:27 into the first quarter. Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) canned a three-pointer from the corner for the game's first bucket while Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) scored five of her game high 14 points in that opening stretch.

That seven-point advantage to start the game loomed large as the Aggies found their way back with a 10-3 run of their own to close out the frame and deadlock the score at 13-13.

The lead traded hands three times early in the second stanza before Quinnipiac put together a 7-0 run of their own to force an Aggie timeout. Just as New Mexico State had claimed a one-point lead, the Bobcats again fed Strautmane the ball as she buried a jumper and Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) followed with a big three-point make in transition.

After Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) corralled an Edel Thornton (Garranabraher, Ireland) dime for a fast break score to make it 25-19 Bobcats, the Aggies regained some footing before halftime as the scoreboard read 26-23 heading into the break.

Shooting just 9-for-31 (29 percent) in the first half, Quinnipiac came out of halftime on fire as the Bobcats responded with points on three straight possessions to open their biggest lead of the game at 32-23. Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) created a pair of buckets in the run as she forced a steal on the defensive end which turned into a Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) layup and she later found Brittany Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) wide open underneath on a perfect bounce pass that put the Bobcats up nine.

As had been the case all game, the Aggies were quick with a response as an 8-0 run closed the gap to just one, 32-31, with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter. That slim margin held true for the remainder of play as the Bobcats' lead never swelled to more than five points.

With an offense clearly sputtering, the Bobcat defense turned up the pressure and limited the Aggies to just seven points – two of which coming on an inconsequential layup with three seconds remaining – in the remaining 9:01 of play. In that span, Quinnipiac held New Mexico State to just 2-of-9 shooting while forcing seven turnovers (27 for the game).

That lockdown defense was on full display from the 4:36 mark as the Aggies were held scoreless until the layup with two seconds left. Desperately needing a little bit of offense to claim the victory, points came by-way of the free throw line as Fabbri and Martin combined for three free throws and Brittany Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio) iced the game away with a make from the charity stripe to push the Bobcats ahead by four, 48-44, with just 14 seconds remaining.

Coming off a season high 13 points in the Bobcats' last game, an 82-59 road win over Hartford, Strautmane played big all game long as she finished with 14 points (6-12 FG), eight rebounds, four blocks and four steals in 27 minutes. For the sophomore forward, Strautmane notched a new season high in rebounds while she set a new career high in blocks and tied a career-best in steals.

Martucci pumped in nine points of her own while continuing her stellar defensive play with three steals in the win. Fay chipped in seven points in just seven minutes, Johnson tallied five points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, Thornton dished out five assists, and McClure was stellar all-around with eight rebounds (five offensive), two assists and two blocks.

Largely an isolation team relying on drives from the top, Quinnipiac's pressure defense is evidenced perfectly in the Aggies' four assists to 28 turnovers for the game (0.14 assist/turnover ratio). New Mexico State came in leading the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (0.96) and hadn't coughed the ball up that many times since committing 31 turnovers against Sacramento State on Nov. 19, 2015.

Quinnipiac now prepares for either Oregon State or UNLV on Tuesday night as the Bobcats look to advance to the final of the Play4Kay Shootout (either Oklahoma State or Long Beach State) to be held on Wednesday.