Four Bobcats Hit Double Figures as QU Women’s Basketball Cruises Past Saint Peter’s, 82-47

Monday, January 2

Hamden, CT

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

11-3, 4-0MAAC

Saint Peter's

3-10, 2-2MAAC

Saint Peter's

Quinnipiac

Four Bobcats Hit Double Figures as QU Women’s Basketball Cruises Past Saint Peter’s, 82-47

1/2/2017 11:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Aryn McClure (15), Adily Martucci (15), Jen Fay (12) and Paula Strautmane (10) Finish in Double Figures for the Bobcats

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – The Quinnipiac women's basketball team made it look easy on Monday night as a stellar all-around effort paved the way to a dominant, 82-47, win over Saint Peter's from the TD Bank Sports Center. The Bobcats' third straight win puts Quinnipiac at 11-3 overall and 4-0 in the MAAC while the Peacocks drop to 3-10 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Playing a Saint Peter's squad coming into Hamden having won two of their last three games – including a 12-point home win over Niagara on Friday – the Bobcats made quick work of the Peacocks for the second time this season as tonight's 35-point victory nearly matched an 84-51 win in Jersey City back on December 1.

Four Bobcats hit double figures led by Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) and Adily Martucci) who each tallied 15 points in the win. McClure's third straight double digit scoring game is also good enough for a season high as the sophomore finished 4-of-5 from the floor and 7-of-8 at the free throw line while adding four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals in just 19 minutes. Her production over the last four games is considerable as she is posting 12 PPG (47.1 FG%), 7.5 RPG, 3.5 APG and 2.8 SPG in 23.8 MPG. She leads or ranks second on the team in all five statistical categories.

Martucci, meanwhile, continues to shoot the ball at an elite clip as her near-perfect effort (5-6 FG, 3-3 FG) brings her to 45.9 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from three for the season. Her 15-point effort against the Peacocks is good enough for her team-leading eighth 10+ point game of 2016-17 while she continues to lead the team and stands as the lone Bobcat averaging double figures in scoring at 10.9 PPG.

Joining McClure and Martucci in double figures, Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) went for 12 points (5-9 FG) while Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) added 10 points to go along with six rebounds and a career high five steals. Fay hit double figures for the first time in six games after pumping in 10+ points in five straight contests from Nov. 11-Dec. 3. Strautmane put together a nice bounce-back game as she had only scored nine points in the previous three games combined.

The Peacocks' third-ranked scoring offense in MAAC-only games (67.3 PPG) was put on lockdown right from the start as Saint Peter's went for their lowest-scoring total since falling to nationally-ranked South Carolina, 93-38, eight games ago back on Nov. 22.

Turnovers played a large role early and often as the Bobcats forced Saint Peter's into 28 turnovers which helped translate into a massive 41-5 advantage in points off turnovers for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats' extended fullcourt defense which backed into an aggressive man-to-man in the halfcourt gave the Peacocks fits all night long which created easy looks on the fastbreak for the home side.

Saint Peter's managed to hang in early thanks to the three-point shot as the Peacocks drained three of their first five attempts from downtown (all in the first quarter) but went on to finish just 4-of-17 from long range as the Bobcat defense adjusted to the hot shooting.

The Bobcat lead was just five points towards the late stages of the opening stanza but a quarter-ending 7-2 run for Quinnipiac created a 10-point cushion heading into the second quarter which belonged to McClure.

Attacking the Saint Peter's defense from an isolation set, McClure went to work with drives into the painted area which she turned into 11 points in the second quarter alone including seven makes from the free throw line. The lead was just nine before McClure's second quarter barrage helped the Bobcats build a 12-0 run before the halftime buzzer. McClure accounted for eight of the Bobcats' 12 points in the scoreless streak which built a 43-22 lead through 20 minutes of play.

With the game well in-hand after the half, Quinnipiac continued to put on a beautiful display of basketball as the Bobcats assisted on all 12 of their field goal makes in the third and fourth quarters. Eight different Bobcats tallied at least two points in the third quarter before the five Bobcat freshmen came on for the final five-plus minutes of action to close out the 35-point win.

Freshman Paige Warfel (Downingtown, Pennsylvania) made the most of her extended minutes as she tallied nine points (9-10 FT) with three rebounds (all offensive) and two steals in 20 minutes. Sarah Shewan (Russell, Ontario) chipped in eight points and eight rebounds (seven offensive) while freshman Vanessa Udoji (Randolph, Massachusetts) led the team in minutes (26) while contributing eight points and three steals.

Quinnipiac will next head on the annual Western New York swing beginning with Niagara on Thursday at 11:00 AM before wrapping up the Buffalo trip with Canisius on Saturday at 2 PM.