Another Fourth Quarter Surge Powers QU Women’s Basketball Past Canisius for Buffalo Sweep

Saturday, January 7

Koessler Athletic Center - Buffalo, NY

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

13-3, 6-0MAAC

Canisius

3-12, 2-4MAAC

Quinnipiac

Canisius

Another Fourth Quarter Surge Powers QU Women’s Basketball Past Canisius for Buffalo Sweep

1/7/2017 6:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Two 7-0 Fourth Quarter Runs Inspire Late Win for Quinnipiac

By: QU Sports Information

BUFFALO, New York – Missed shots littered the Bobcats' offensive end of the floor for the second straight game but a second straight fourth quarter surge combined with a stellar defensive performance throughout proved enough for a 64-53 road win over Canisius.

The Quinnipiac women's basketball team picks up their fifth straight win, moving to 13-3 overall on the season while remaining unbeaten in MAAC play at 6-0. Quinnipiac's win also secured a fourth straight Western New York sweep as the Bobcats are a combined 16-0 since moving to the MAAC in games against Canisius (8-0) and Niagara (8-0). Canisius falls for the seventh time in eight games as the Golden Griffins now stand 3-12 overall, 1-7 at home and 2-4 in league play.

Suffering through a prolonged cold spell on offense wherein the Bobcats were just 13-for-54 (24.1 percent) through the final three quarters of play, it was the Quinnipiac defense that once again came up big in holding the Golden Griffins to just 34 points in the final 30 minutes of play while shooting just 9-for-31 (29 percent) after the first quarter.

Playing out very similarly to Thursday's 71-64 win over Niagara, a game in which the Bobcats scored just 42 points through three quarters and shot 2-of-23 (8.7 percent) from three-point range for the game, Quinnipiac desperately needed some fourth quarter inspiration and a 7-0 run was just the lift the first place Bobcats needed.

In a game that featured 12 ties and 10 lead changes (neither side led by more than four points into the fourth quarter), a crucial seven-point swing began and ended with a couple key plays from Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher, Ireland). The sophomore has struggled all season long with her shot, coming in shooting just 29.2 percent on the season, but Thornton received a pass on the wing and stepped into a huge three-point make with confidence. Then on the next possession, Thornton drew her defender in the air with a pump fake, drove the lane and zipped a beautiful dish to Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) for the easy two-point bucket.

That Strautmane layup capped a 7-0 run and gave the Bobcats some much-needed separation but as the Golden Griffins cut the margin down to three with 5:47 remaining, Quinnipiac benefitted from another 7-0 run as seven straight points for the Bobcats pushed the lead to 57-47 with just over four minutes left.

Just as Canisius cut the lead to three, Brittany Johnson (Pickerington, Ohio) – who had missed seven of her first eight shots from the floor – came up with a massive three-pointer from the wing that was followed with four straight free throws to give the Bobcats a 10-point advantage with little time remaining.

Johnson's three-pointer, a shot that has not fallen often in the junior's career (20-95 3FG, 21.1 3FG%), was eerily similar to another three that Johnson hit last season at Canisius. In a game that saw the Bobcats ahead by two points with 2:16 remaining, Johnson cashed in on a huge three-pointer from the corner that pushed Quinnipiac's lead to five, ultimately paving the way to a 12-point road win.

Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) led the way offensively for the Bobcats as she tallied a game high 16 points (6-12 FG) including 12 in the first half as her production was sorely needed as Strautmane and Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter. Fay's seventh time hitting double figures also marked her highest-scoring game since going for 19 at home against Siena back on Dec. 3, 2016 (eight games ago).

Back in action in the second half, Strautmane and McClure dominated in stretches and provided a big offensive lift for Quinnipiac. Strautmane tallied 14 points (12 in second half) with 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes giving her the fourth double-double of her career. McClure added 10 points (eight in second half) including four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 21 minutes.

A significant edge in rebounding also helped aid in the Bobcats overcoming a poor shooting night as Quinnipiac owned a massive 54-35 (+19) edge in the rebounding department including a sizeable +17 advantage (26-9) on the offensive glass. That +19 advantage is the largest single-game margin for the Bobcats since finishing +20 in a 96-54 win over Rider back on Feb. 7, 2015 (61 games ago). Quinnipiac's 26 offensive rebounds are the most for the Bobcats since totaling 30 against Manhattan on Dec. 6, 2015 (41 games ago) while the 54 team rebounds is the largest total grabbing 55 at Monmouth on March 1, 2015 (53 games ago).

The second-best shooting team in the MAAC coming into the matchup this afternoon, Canisius was held to just 31.9 percent shooting by the Bobcats' stifling defense while being forced into 18 turnovers. The Golden Griffins' 42.0 percent mark from the floor for the season ranked second in the conference while their 48.9 percent showing in MAAC-only games led all 11 teams in the league.

Sara Hinriksdottir came in as the fourth-leading scorer in the MAAC (15.0 PPG) but she was held largely in-check as she finished with just 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting in 32 minutes.

Quinnipiac rides back home winners of five straight as the Bobcats will next be in action on Tuesday night with a 7 PM tip-off against Manhattan from the TD Bank Sports Center.