QU Women’s Basketball Pitches Defensive Clinic in 73-47 Home Win over Siena

Saturday, December 3

Hamden, CT

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

6-1, 2-0MAAC

Siena

2-4, 1-1MAAC

Siena

Quinnipiac

QU Women’s Basketball Pitches Defensive Clinic in 73-47 Home Win over Siena

12/3/2016 6:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bobcats Force Siena into 34 Turnovers, Jen Fay Pumps in 19 Points on her Birthday

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – The Quinnipiac women's basketball team turned up the defense on the afternoon and pitched a clinic as the Bobcats defeated Siena, 73-47, from the TD Bank Sports Center on Saturday. With the win, Quinnipiac improves to 6-1 overall and opens MAAC play at 2-0 while Siena drops to 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in the MAAC.

Heading into a second conference game in three days, Quinnipiac faced a daunting task in attempting to limit a Siena offense that came in as the top-scoring team in the MAAC at 73 points per game. Honing in on the MAAC's leading scorer Jackie Benitez (21.4 PPG heading into today), the Bobcats held Siena to a season-low 47 points while Benitez shot just 4-of-15 overall for nine points and was held scoreless in the second half.

As a team, Siena shot just 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) from behind the arc while the Bobcats force the Saints into 34 turnovers in the 40-minute contest. Those 34 turnovers led to a massive 35-13 advantage for Quinnipiac in terms of points off turnovers.

After struggling for most of the first half, shooting just 36.8 percent with 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, Quinnipiac's defense gave the offense enough time to get going and seal the victory with a second half surge. The Bobcats' depth eventually took a toll on the short-handed Saints and the up-tempo style paid dividends with a 16-of-37 (43.2 percent) shooting performance in the third and fourth quarters combined.

The birthday girl Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) starred in the second half as she pumped in 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half alone. Fay shot 7-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-5 from deep while adding six rebounds in 22 minutes as her three three-point hits in the second half helped the Bobcats pull away from a gamely Siena squad that kept the margin within 10 points until early in the fourth quarter.

Vanessa Udoji (Randolph, Massachusetts) continues to make the most of her opportunity as she finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, giving the freshman 29 points (14.5 PPG) in her last two games after scoring just three points in her first two appearances (nine combined minutes). Udoji also played stellar defensively, snatching five steals helping Quinnipiac compile 20 as a team (season high).

Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) picked up her play considerably in the second half as she tallied nine of her 11 points in the second half while adding seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 22 minutes. Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) and Sarah Shewan (Russell, Ontario) each added nine points while Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) was dynamic all-around with six points, 12 rebounds (five offensive), three assists and two steals in her 24 minutes of action.

Neither team led by more than six points in the first half as the halftime scoreboard read, 32-26, in favor of the Bobcats. Picked third in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Siena kept the game close deep into the second half but a crucial 13-3 run for the Bobcats pushed the lead up to 14 points midway through the third quarter.

Udoji started the run with a steal at midcourt and easy two-point finish while Shewan later drove into the lane and converted a tough layup in traffic. Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) continued the run with a huge three-pointer that gave the Bobcats their first double digit lead of the game. Strautmane capped the run with an and-one finish in the interior to force a Siena timeout.

The lead swayed back to just 10 points with 7:09 remaining but Fay was there once again to quiet the Siena rush as she banged in a triple to make it 57-44 Bobcats. That Fay three-pointer started a game-deciding 11-0 run that wherein the redshirt sophomore forward notched seven points to help push the Bobcats past the Saints in the closing minutes.

Conference play resumes on December 30^th but first the Bobcats will deal with a huge non-conference showdown on Tuesday night as Quinnipiac welcomes Michigan State for a 7 PM tip-off. This marks the first all-time meeting between both sides as the Spartans come in a consistent nationally-ranked program.