QU Women’s Basketball Claims Third Straight MAAC Regular Season Title with 62-49 Win over Canisius

Saturday, February 25

Hamden, CT

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

24-6, 17-3MAAC

Canisius (Senior Day)

9-20, 8-12MAAC

Canisius

Quinnipiac

QU Women’s Basketball Claims Third Straight MAAC Regular Season Title with 62-49 Win over Canisius

2/25/2017 6:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bobcats Guarantee No. 1 Seed in 2017 MAAC Tournament and at Least a Share of the MAAC Regular Season Title

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – Three losses in five games midway through the conference schedule certainly drew attention, but seven straight wins later and the Quinnipiac women's basketball team finds themselves in the same position as they were at the end of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 regular seasons, standing as the MAAC Regular Season Champions.

Much like this afternoon's game against the Canisius Golden Griffins, adversity struck Quinnipiac in the early going but as the game/season moved along it was the Bobcats standing on top as the Bobcats overcame a slow start on the offensive end to score the 62-49 victory on Senior Day.

Quinnipiac (24-6, 17-3 MAAC) claims at least a share of the 2016-17 MAAC Regular Season title as Rider (16-3 MAAC) can split the championship with the Bobcats if the Broncs defeat Fairfield on the road Sunday afternoon. Regardless, Quinnipiac's victory earns the Bobcats the No. 1 seed in the 2017 MAAC Tournament for the third straight season thanks to a season series sweep of the Broncs. The No. 1 seeded Bobcats open postseason play on Friday at 1 PM from the Times Union Center in Albany against the winner of the No. 8 Canisius vs. No. 9 Niagara matchup on Thursday.

Even with all the magic of the moment postgame, Quinnipiac certainly had to earn today's victory as Canisius dictated play in the early going jumping out to a 10-3 lead which held up through the opening stanza as the scoreboard read 16-10 after one. The Golden Griffins drained their only two three-point attempts in the opening quarter while the Bobcats suffered through a poor shooting spell in which the team went 4-for-16 (25 percent) to start play.

The cold shooting for the Bobcats continued into the second as another lackluster effort (5-for-15, 33.3 percent) from the floor saw Quinnipiac shoot a combined 9-for-31 (29 percent) in the first half. Even with all the missed shots, however, Canisius wasn't able to take full advantage as the Bobcats locked down the Golden Griffins in the second stanza (3-for-16 shooting, 18.8 percent).

Canisius' missed opportunity to extend their lead ultimately came back to bite the Golden Griffins as Quinnipiac surged into the halftime locker room with an 11-0 run to end the second quarter, holding Canisius scoreless for the final 5:24 of play. Carly Fabbri (Startford, Connecticut) put the exclamation point on the 11-point swing as she canned two of her four three-pointers while the remaining five points in the swing came from the free throw line, giving Quinnipiac the 29-23 halftime advantage.

Sitting the driver's seat with the halftime lead (Quinnipiac is 19-2 this season when owning the halftime lead), Canisius mounted a comeback attempt to cut the lead down to just two at the 5:55 mark of the third quarter but it was met with another big swing as the Bobcats countered with an 8-0 run to reclaim a 10-point advantage.

Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) sparked the run with an athletic post move leading to an easy layup while Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) followed up on the receiving end of a McClure pass to can a triple from the corner. Fabbri again came in with the finishing blow in the run as she swished her fourth three-pointer of the game to make it 41-31 with just over 12 minutes remaining.

Canisius never gave in as the lead remained 10 points for the Bobcats with five minutes remaining but once again another crucial 9-0 run pushed Quinnipiac's lead to their biggest of the day (61-42) with just 2:30 remaining, sealing the pivotal victory with their third lengthy run of the afternoon.

After doing so just once this season through 28 games prior to Thursday, the Bobcats saw four players hit double figures for the second straight contest as Sarah Shewan (16), Fabbri (12), McClure (12) and Martucci (11) each netted 10+ points.

Shewan put forth one of her strongest games of the season, recording 16 points (11-12 FT) while adding 12 rebounds (seven offensive) and three steals for her second straight double-double. Prior to Thursday's road game at Marist wherein she went for 10 points and 14 rebounds, Shewan compiled just one double-double in her career and has since erupted for back-to-back double-doubles.

Fabbri tied her season high with her 12-point effort as she caught fire from behind the arc, stroking four of her six three-point attempts while adding six assists and two steals in 25 minutes. McClure added eight rebounds, five blocks (all in the first half) and two assists to go along with her 12 points while Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) nearly hit double figures as she tallied eight points and six rebounds.

Canisius was led by Saliah Serrette who finished with 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. The fifth-leading scorer in the MAAC coming in, Sara Hinriksdottir (15.5 PGPG, was held to just seven points on 3-for-11 shooting with three turnovers in 31 minutes. As a team, Canisius shot 38 percent overall and was just 3-for-10 from long range while also committing 18 turnovers.

Prior to the start of the game, Quinnipiac honored its three graduating seniors. The Bobcats saluted the careers of one of the most successful classes in program history which has amassed 101 wins since the start of the 2013-14 season, comprised of Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut), Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) and Brianah Ramos (Montgomery, New York). The Bobcats' 101 wins currently ranks third all-time at Quinnipiac while the group has a chance at winning Quinnipiac's third conference title in five seasons.

18275

Quinnipiac now sets their sights on the 2017 MAAC Tournament held at the Times Union Center in Albany from March 2-6. The Bobcats will open play in the quarterfinal round on Friday at 1 PM facing either Canisius or Niagara. Quinnipiac won the 2015 MAAC Championship and has advanced to the championship game every season since the Bobcats moved to the league in 2013-14.