QU Women’s Basketball’s Second Half Fight Comes Up Short in Loss to Michigan State

Tuesday, December 6

Hamden, CT

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

6-2

Michigan State

8-2

Michigan State

Quinnipiac

QU Women’s Basketball’s Second Half Fight Comes Up Short in Loss to Michigan State

12/6/2016 10:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Poor First Half Shooting Plagued Quinnipiac in Huge Non-Conference Showdown in Hamden

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut - The trademark defensive intensity and fight known for years within the Quinnipiac women's basketball program was evident on Tuesday night but not enough shots fell in the first half as the Bobcats dropped a 71-54 decision to Michigan State at home in a much-anticipated non-conference showdown.

Known for their tendency to face high-major level competition in the non-conference, Quinnipiac's Tuesday night showdown with Michigan State was one of the biggest in program history. The contest saw Quinnipiac face a B1G opponent for just the fourth time including the first on their home floor. In over 40 seasons of women's basketball history at Quinnipiac, the home game against Michigan State marked just the sixth time the Bobcats hosted a high-major program.

For roughly 30 minutes of game play, the Bobcats played the Spartans evenly as the Michigan State lead never swelled beyond 19 while the margin was cut to just 10 points several times in the fourth quarter. Where the game got away from the Bobcats came in a stretch of 10:56 between the first and second quarter as Quinnipiac was held to just one point over the stretch – including a run of over nine minutes without scoring a point. The extended scoreless stretch allowed the Spartans to jump out to an 18-1 run and build a 19-point advantage with 7:15 remaining in the second quarter.

Despite the offensive woes, the game never got away from the Bobcats as was reflected in the score as Quinnipiac outscored the Spartans, 48-46, through the remaining 23:28 of play after breaking out of the scoreless stretch.

Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) came to play under the pressure of the national power Michigan State as she tallied a game high 20 points in 23 minutes while shooting 6-of-13 overall, 3-of-8 from deep and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Martucci tied a career high (20 points at FGCU – Dec. 28, 2015) against the power program and was dominant on the defensive end, shadowing one of the premier players in the nation Tori Jankoska.

The nation's fifth-leading scorer coming in, averaging 23.4 points (47.9 FG%, 41.1 3FG%) 6.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.8 steals in 35.6 minutes per game, Martucci and the Bobcats held the dynamic scorer to 18 points on 4-of-13 shooting and 2-of-9 from three. Six of Jankoska's points came on inconsequential free throws in the closing two minutes of play while Quinnipiac held her to just two field goals in the final three quarters combined.

Playing in front of a season-best crowd of 1293, Quinnipiac's defense told the story early as the lead remained within one point more than halfway into the first quarter. Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) opened the scoring for the Bobcats with a layup 1:48 into the game and Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) followed with a layup of her own to give Quinnipiac their only lead of the game at 4-2.

Michigan State took over with their 18-1 run that prolonged beyond the media timeout break in the second quarter before Quinnipiac showed some fight going on a 7-0 run – highlighted by a three-pointer from Martucci – that lowered the gap back down to 25-13.

Trading blows coming out of halftime, Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) opened the scoring in the third quarter with a resounding three that pushed the lead back down to 13. Martucci and Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) bumped the volume up in the TD Bank Sports Center as the crowd grew to a thunderous applause on their back-to-back three-pointers that made it 39-27 with 13:27 to play.

That 12-point Spartan lead whittled down to 11 early in the fourth quarter as Martucci went on a mini 4-0 run herself. That 11-point margin came down to 10 but with 3:37 remaining there was little time to waste and Michigan State hit their free throws down the stretch to close out the 17-point win.

McClure was solid in her 29 minutes of action as the sophomore tallied 12 points (4-10 FG) and five rebounds while Manz added eight points and Fay posted six points with five rebounds. After committing 11 turnovers in the first half, Quinnipiac only coughed the ball up four times in the final 20 minutes of play as they drew even with Michigan State in terms of turnover margin (15-15) for the game.

Quinnipiac looks to build off their strong second half play with another big non-conference showdown on Saturday at 2 PM as the Bobcats head up I-91 to take on Hartford from Chase Arena. The Hawks currently stand 7-2 on the season but the Bobcats have dominated the series history with three straight wins in three straight seasons coming against their in-state rival.