QU Women’s Basketball Stages Epic Fourth Quarter Comeback to Defeat Niagara, 71-64

Thursday, January 5

Gallagher Center - Niagara Falls, NY

11:00 AM

Quinnipiac University

12-3, 5-0

Niagara

4-10, 1-4

Quinnipiac

Niagara

QU Women’s Basketball Stages Epic Fourth Quarter Comeback to Defeat Niagara, 71-64

1/5/2017 3:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bobcats Outscore Purple Eagles 29-14 in Final Stanza, Overcoming Eight-Point Deficit to Start the Frame

By: QU Sports Information

LEWISTON, New York – With seemingly nothing going right on the offensive end for 30 minutes of play, just as all hope of a comeback had seemingly came and went, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team pulled together and staged an epic fourth quarter comeback to pull away from Niagara with the 71-64 victory.

Trailing by eight at the start of the fourth quarter with just 42 points scored, shooting poorly from three-point range (2-17 3FG to start the fourth, finished 2-23 3FG for the game) and seeing Niagara own a massive 19-4 edge in made free throws, Quinnipiac could have very easily succumbed to the frustration and allowed this one to get away.

Needing inspiration desperately, junior co-captain Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) delivered early with a pair of drives that first resulted in two free throws and secondly led to an authoritative and-one finish at the rim to bring her team back to within three. A vocal leader on this Bobcat squad, the three-point specialist Fabbri's three-point play brought with it a little extra on the celebration as the junior guard threw up both fists, screamed and soundly bumped chests with Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) before giving her bench a look of pure determination.

Playing in front of a gym filled with 2,000 grade school children, as this was Niagara's annual Kids Day Game at the Gallagher Center, the volume raised up to a fever pitch as the game wore down into the final stages. Still trailing by one with less than four minutes remaining, Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) made a quick move to her left and converted on the left-handed finish to give her team their first lead of the contest at 55-54.

Six lead changes and five ties consumed the next two minutes of play as both sides went back-and-forth converting at the free throw line while the volume inside the Gallagher Center armed with a crowd of 2,000+ grew ever louder by the minute.

With the score tied at 64-64 with less than one minute to go, Quinnipiac leaned on their dynamic sophomore duo as Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) fed to Strautmane at the elbow. With her defender giving her space to shoot, Strautmane waited an extra second which proved vital as McClure made a great hesitation move at the free throw line which brought her defender to the floor and allowed for the easy dish and score from one sophomore to another.

Now up by two with 46 seconds left, Niagara turned to their leading scorer Victoria Rampado at the high post as she made a driving attempt to the rim but Strautmane (playing with four fouls) held her ground and played the drive perfectly before she reached in and poked away the steal.

Fouled on the break up the floor, Strautmane came in shooting just 58 percent from the free throw line but shook off the nerves and buried two clutch makes to make it a two-possession game with 34 seconds left.

One more time up the floor, Niagara went for the quick two and the strategy backfired as Jamie Sherburne missed her driving layup, Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) corralled the rebound and the game was all but over at that point as the Bobcats went on to record the 71-64 victory.

A thrilling outcome on an afternoon where the Bobcats simply could not get anything going offensively for three full quarters, Quinnipiac's ability to pull through late thanks to an impressive streak of 13 consecutive made free throws helped lead to a massive 29-14 (+15) fourth quarter edge on the scoreboard.

Strautmane was all over the floor with a team high 15 points (6-13 FG), six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 26 minutes as she tallied six of her 15 in the fourth quarter alone. Brittany Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio) was the go-to scorer for the Bobcats most of the way as she pumped in 13 points (5-7 FG) before fouling out after just 19 minutes of action. Martucci was solid all-around with 10 points, career high five assists and three steals in 30 minutes while McClure and Fay each tallied nine in the win.

In one of the more unusual stat lines for a star player, Niagara's Rampado who came in as the second-leading scorer in the MAAC (16.4 PPG) finished 0-for-4 from the floor but went 12-of-14 from the free throw line on her way to 12 points and nine rebounds. Kaylee Stroemple was the best player on the floor all afternoon as she tallied a career high 26 points (10-17 FG, 6-7 FT) to go along with seven rebounds and four assists in 36 minuts.

Several key stats to note for the Bobcats saw Quinnipiac go three full quarters with just five free throw attempts compared to 25 for the Purple Eagles but the script filled in the fourth as the Bobcats went 13-of-14 in the final 10 minutes alone. In addition, Quinnipiac finished a season-worst 8.7 percent (2-23 3FG) and still managed to best their MAAC-leading season average (70.6 PPG). Finally, Quinnipiac managed to compile a +12 advantage in turnover margin (23-11) which led to a sizeable 22-8 edge in points off turnovers for the game.

Armed with the best record in the MAAC at 5-0 in league play, Quinnipiac (12-3) concludes their annual Western New York swing on Saturday afternoon in a 2 PM tip-off against Canisius.