Big Showdown Against No. 25/15 Oregon State Looms for QU Women's Basketball in Play4Kay Shootout

Tuesday, December 20

T-Mobile Arena - Las Vegas, NV

11:00 PM (EST)

Quinnipiac University

No. 25/15 Oregon State University

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Big Showdown Against No. 25/15 Oregon State Looms for QU Women's Basketball in Play4Kay Shootout

12/20/2016 3:50:00 AM | Women's Basketball

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Bobcats Hoping to Advance to Play4Kay Shootout Championship Game, Will Require Program's First-Ever Win Over Nationally-Ranked Opponent

By: QU Sports Information

Play4Kay Shootout Second Round
Quinnipiac Bobcats (8-2) vs.
No. 25/15 Oregon State Beavers (8-1)
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016 | 8:00 PM (11:00 PM EST)
Location: T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.
All-Time Series vs. Oregon State: First Meeting

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YESTERDAY'S RESULT
Quinnipiac pitched a defensive gem in the opening round of the Play4Kay Shootout as the Bobcats defeated two-time defending Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Champion New Mexico State, 49-46, on Monday afternoon. The Bobcat defense was stellar throughout, holding an Aggie team that came in averaging 72.8 points per game, while Paula Strautmane (14 points, eight rebounds) powered an offensive attack that struggled throughout but managed enough for the win. Quinnipiac's win marked just the second victory 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 (1,175 games ago).

PLAY4KAY SHOOTOUT FIELD
Quinnipiac has never faced any of the seven teams making an appearance in the inaugural Play4Kay Shootout. The Bobcats open with fellow mid-major power New Mexico State as Quinnipiac will be facing a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) team for the first time in program history. A matchup against Oregon State in the second round as the Beavers check in at No. 15 in the most-recent USA Today Coaches' Poll and are coming off an appearance in the 2016 Final Four. On the flip side of the bracket, the Bobcats will face either Oklahoma State or Long Beach State in the third and final game of the tournament depending on Tuesday's results.

REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENT TUNE-UPS
This marks the third time in the last four seasons the Bobcats are appearing in a major national regular season tournament. Quinnipiac's first season in the MAAC (2013-14) saw the Bobcats open the campaign going 1-2 in the 2013 Preseason WNIT with the lone win coming over North Carolina A&T at home, 77-63. In 2014-15, Quinnipiac went 2-2 in the 2014 Hall of Fame Women's Challenge with a major win coming over Alabama, 73-66, at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Each of those appearances featured a spotlight showdown as the Bobcats traveled to No. 5 ranked Louisville in the 2013 Preseason WNIT and played No. 1 ranked Notre Dame in South Bend during the 2014 Hall of Fame Women's Challenge.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS

No. 25/15 Oregon State (8-1) is coming off a thrilling 62-59 victory over UNLV in the Play4Kay first round on Monday as the Beavers overcame a nine-point second half deficit for the win
The Beavers were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 in both the leagues' coaches and media poll
Oregon State's four-member senior class owns a .805 winning percentage in their three-plus seasons with the team (91-22)
With nine players listed at 6-foot or above, Oregon State is the tallest team Quinnipiac will play all season
The Beavers have held opponents below 35 percent shooting in 35 of their last 47 games
Coming into the start of the tournament, Oregon State sat third in the nation in defensive field goal percentage (31.0)
Marquette is the only team to score more than 59 points against the Beavers this season
Oregon State is coming off its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four in 2015-16
The Beavers set a school record with 32 wins last season, topping their previous high-mark of 27 set in 2014-15
The go-to player remaining from the Final Four run last season is Sydney Wiese as the senior guard is one of the most-talented players in the nation
Wiese is third in Pac-12 history and first in school history with 293 career three-pointers. She sits just two behind Candice Wiggins' league record of 295
Wiese is tied with Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell for the most active career three-pointers
An All-Pac-12 First Team member three straight seasons, should she earn another First Team honor this season she would become just the second player in school history to earn All-Pac-12 honors all four years
She currently sits eighth in school history with 1,423 career points and third in Oregon State history with 509 career assists
Wiese is coming off a big 25-point effort in the Play4Kay first round win over UNLV as she shot 8-of-11 overall, 4-of-6 from three and 5-of-6 at the line while grabbing five rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes
Her superior all-around talent was on full display last Wednesday as she netted the fourth triple-double in school history with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against UC Davis
The 27-point effort is a career high while she hit on 10-of-12 of her shot attempts while hitting seven three-pointers
Supporting Wiese averaging double figures on the season is 6-foot-5 center Marie Gulich at 10.6 PPG, hitting on 54.8 percent of her attempts while adding seven rebounds per game
Breanna Brown is a lockdown defender as she leads the team in blocks with 20 (2.2 per game) while showing well on the offensive end shooting a team-high 58 percent to go along with 6.9 rebounds per game

Games Played Against Ranked Foes All-Time
Date	Opponent	Home/Away/Neutral	Score
11/25/14	No. 1 Notre Dame	Away	L, 112-52
11/11/13	No. 5 Louisville	Away	L, 100-82
3/23/13	No. 12 Maryland	Away (NCAA Tournament)	L, 72-52
11/26/10	No. 23 Vanderbilt	Away	L, 113-53
12/10/09	No. 18 Vanderbilt	Home	L, 75-74
12/28/09	No. 6 Duke	Away	L, 78-50
11/23/08	No. 24 Michigan State	Neutral (TD Banknorth Classic @ UVM)	L, 81-48
11/24/04	No. 20 Boston College	Away	L, 74-43

BIG TIME OPPONENT
The Bobcats are 0-8 all-time against nationally-ranked competition, have never played a Pac-12 foe in program history and own an all-time mark of 5-28 against teams in high-major conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 12, B1G, Pac-12 and SEC). The most-recent victory over a high-major conference came in a 74-67 win over Alabama in the Hall of Fame Challenge back on Nov. 30, 2015 in a game played at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The other four remaining wins over high-major foes have come against Minnesota, Providence (twice) and Syracuse. Quinnipiac has hosted a high-major foe just five times (St. John's (Big East), Vanderbilt (SEC), Boston College (ACC), Syracuse (then-Big East) and Wake Forest (SEC)). The Bobcats own a mark of 1-4 I those five contests with the lone win coming over St. John's (W, 75-72) on Dec. 22, 2012.

THE RAREST OF FEATS
In a 49-46 win over New Mexico State to open the Play4Kay Shootout, Quinnipiac accomplished a feat seen before just once in the program's all-time history. Scoring just 49 points and defeating the Aggies by three, for just the second time in program history and first in the Div. I era (since 1998-99), the Bobcats won a game in which they scored less than 50 points. Incredibly, the Bobcats' last victory coming with less than 50 points scored came in the program's first-ever game, a 48-34 win over Hartford back on Jan. 27, 1975 (1,117 games ago).

IN THEIR DEFENSE
Quinnipiac's stellar defensive play carried the Bobcats in a 49-46 win over New Mexico State in the Play4Kay Shootout. The 46 points scored for the Aggies is the lowest total for a Bobcat opponent since allowing Fairfield to score 43 back on Jan. 15, 2015 (60 games ago). Turnovers loomed large as New Mexico State was forced into 28 while dishing out just four assists (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 on Nov. 19, 2015.

POWER PLAY FROM PAULA
Paula Strautmane's play has been inspired over the last five games as she is averaging 10.2 PPG (58.3 FG%) with 5.6 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.8 SPG and 1.4 BPG in just 19.8 MPG. Strautmane is tied for the team-lead in scoring while she ranks second on the team in rebounding, assists, steals and blocks in that five-game span. After scoring 10+ points just once in the opening five games of 2016-17, she has tallied double figures in four of the last five. Her scoring has also been a key indicator to the Bobcats' overall success as Quinnipiac stands 5-0 on the season in games wherein Strautmane posts 10+ points.

TONS OF TOOLS IN HER ARSENAL
Aryn McClure has been an all-around force this season as she owns averages of 6.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.7 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game. Out of the 11 schools in the MAAC, McClure is the only player in the league to lead her team in minutes (233), rebounds (74), steals (18) and blocks (17). She was held scoreless for the first time in her career against New Mexico State but she still managed to add eight rebounds (five offensive) with two steals and one block.

TOP SPOT IN THE MAAC
Through 10 games this season, Quinnipiac holds the lead in eight different statistical categories while the Bobcats are ranked no worse than third out of 11 MAAC teams in 15 out of 21 major team statistics. Quinnipiac leads the MAAC in scoring offense (69.3), scoring margin (+11.8), field goal percentage defense (35.5), three-point percentage defense (24.1), assists (17.5), steals (12.2), turnover margin (+6.50) and assist/turnover ratio (1.06).

STREAK BUSTED
Quinnipiac has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past three seasons when building a first half lead. After starting 2016-17 with a mark of 2-0 when owning a halftime lead, the Bobcats recently saw one of their most impressive streaks in program history come to an end in a 71-68 loss at Temple. Quinnipiac's three-point loss signaled the first time the Bobcats had lost a game in which they held a halftime lead since the 2014 MAAC Championship game against Marist. The undefeated streak, which lasted over the course of three seasons, came to an end at 45 straight wins for the Bobcats when holding a halftime lead. Quinnipiac went undefeated in both 2014-15 (24-0) and 2015-16 (19-0) and for the first two games of 2016-17 before suffering the defeat. They now stand with a mark of 49-1 (.980) since the start of 2014-15 in games in which the Bobcats lead at the half.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
One of the most telling statistical trends all season for the Bobcats has been in the turnover department as Quinnipiac owns a +65 advantage (+6.5 per game; 24th in the nation) in turnover margin through 10 games in 2016-17. The Bobcats have turned the ball over 165 times while forcing the opposition into 230 turnovers (23 per game) which ranks 10^th in the nation. Temple and Michigan State are the only opponents of 10 to have committed less than 20 turnovers in a single-game against the Bobcats. The pressure-packed team defensive approach has translated directly into points as the Bobcats have outscored their nine opponents 220-149 (+71) in points-off-turnovers for a per-game average of 22.0 compared to 14.9 for the opposition.

RETURN OF THE GOLD RUSH
Injuries forced Quinnipiac out of their rotation but now back at full strength, Quinnipiac has utilized their "Gold Rush" subbing strategy to the fullest extent. In this approach first developed in the team's 30-3 season in 2012-13, Quinnipiac chooses to sub five players in-and-out of the game at a time throughout entire 40-minute contests. Since making the move back to the traditional approach, Quinnipiac is averaging 70.5 PPG while shooting 38.8 percent, dishing out 18.0 assists per game and totaling 13.6 steals per contest. Of the 10 consistent "Gold Rush" players, only one is averaging more than 22 MPG (Aryn McClure 22.3 MPG) while seven Bobcats are averaging at least 5.0 PPG. On the defensive end, Quinnipiac is holding opponents to just 57.4 PPG, 35.4 percent shooting, 25.2 percent from deep and just 83 assists to 188 turnovers for a miniscule 0.44 assist/turnover ratio.

RESUME BOOSTER
Quinnipiac opened 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).

BIG MOVERS IN THE MAAC
Since joining the MAAC in 2013-14, Quinnipiac has reeled off a record of 60-11 (.845) in all games against MAAC opponents and 53-9 (.855) in regular season MAAC games, both records that currently lead all teams in the MAAC. The Bobcats surpassed longtime conference power Marist who owns a mark of 54-16 (.771) against conference foes over the last three seasons and stand 48-14 (.774) in regular season MAAC play.

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.