QU Women’s Basketball…Still Dancing! Bobcats Stun Marquette, Scoring First-Ever NCAA Tournament Victory

Saturday, March 18

Watsco Center - Coral Gables, FL

1:35 PM

Quinnipiac University

28-6

Marquette

25-8

Quinnipiac

MARQUETTE

QU Women’s Basketball…Still Dancing! Bobcats Stun Marquette, Scoring First-Ever NCAA Tournament Victory

3/18/2017 5:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

CORAL GABLES, Florida – The feeling of joy, pandemonium, exhilaration and glory swept over the Quinnipiac women's basketball team as the clock hit 0:00 and the celebration was on…the Bobcats had made history. Doubt was prevalent around the nation watching Selection Monday, 'could Quinnipiac compete with the BIG EAST Champs…how do you say Quinnipiac…I've never heard of it…' all were heard in the lead-up but this team made sure no one will forget the Bobcats.

Leading wire-to-wire, the No. 12 seed Quinnipiac stunned No. 5 Marquette, defeating the 2017 BIG EAST Champion Golden Eagles 68-65, landing the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history. In the process, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team became the first female sports team in the University's history to win an NCAA Tournament game.

"When we won the MAAC Championship close to two weeks ago I told my young ladies to enjoy the moment, because you never know," said head coach Tricia Fabbri postgame. "We worked very hard to win that title. But I also said, don't be satisfied. We weren't finished yet. And then today we came down here to win a game and advance into Monday and our goal was to play to win Monday. It's a goal that we started last year when we left for summer and we continued just to move forward with our mission. And here we are getting ready to play in the field of 32 come Monday night."

The underdog Bobcats advance to the Round of 32 down in Miami where the upset-minded 12 seed Quinnipiac will next face the host No. 4 seed Miami on Monday night (tip-off TBA). Miami was tested to the final minute against No. 13 seed Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday, hitting a game-winning layup with 1.5 seconds left to pull out a nail-biting 62-60 NCAA First Round victory.

Making history certainly was not easy. Facing a Marquette team that came in averaging nearly 80 points per game (79.3, 14^th-highest scoring team in NCAA), the Bobcats stymied a lethal Golden Eagle squad (one that came in winners of eight straight games) throughout and made dynamic plays with the pressure at its highest.

Armed with a 19-point lead with just under 16 minutes remaining, the Quinnipiac faithful expected a Marquette run and the Golden Eagles quickly drew back to within three with 6:53 remaining.

Facing the adversity teams can expect in the NCAA Tournament, Quinnipiac proved their mettle time and time again down the stretch, answering the thunderous 20-4 Marquette run with a Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) layup followed by a Paula Strautmane two-point look underneath.

As the clock wound under five minutes, both sides traded blows as Quinnipiac five out of their next six possessions while Marquette had answers on the other end.
With the lead cut down to 65-63, the slimmest margin since the Bobcats led 2-0 in the opening minute, the Quinnipiac faithful held their breath with every possession but the defensive identity that the Bobcats have predicated themselves on the entire season came through in one shining moment.

The clock wound under 30 seconds, Marquette had the ball exactly where they wanted it, in the hands of their dynamic shooting guard Natisha Hiedeman (28 points in BIG EAST title game). Locking down Hiedeman the whole game, the outcome came down to one decisive possession and the Bobcats' defensive leader Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) was there every step of the way and sent back the Hiedeman step-back jumper with an emphatic block.

The Martucci denial, perhaps the play of the game, was followed up by Strautmane cashing in on two huge free throws making it a four-point game with 17 ticks left. Marquette drove to the basket and found Erika Davenport open down low to make it 67-65 with six seconds remaining.

Taking the in-bounds, Fay chose to heave the ball past halfcourt to Strautmane streaking towards the basket, the sophomore caught the lob pass and was fouled. With Strautmane making the first and missing the second, Marquette still had one last chance to send the game into overtime as the Golden Eagles secured the rebound and called timeout with 2.6 ticks left.

Drawing up a great final play, Hiedeman again got the call and the sophomore first up-faked, took one dribble and lifted for an open 25-footer. With the ball on a perfect line, the tenths of a second from when the ball first left her hand to the moment it spun first in and then out of the basket lasted what many can call a lifetime but the end result was truly miraculous…Quinnipiac had made history.

"They know who we are," Martucci siad. "I think everyone knows who we are now."

Rewriting the record books at Quinnipiac, this Bobcat squad becomes the third program in school history to win an NCAA Tournament game (joining men's ice hockey and men's lacrosse). Also of great significance, with Marquette earning the No. 25 ranking in the most-recent USA Today Coaches' Poll, Quinnipiac earned their first victory over a nationally-ranked team in program history (0-9 all-time previously against ranked foes).

Fay showed out for the ESPN2 cameras as the redshirt sophomore came through with a big-time performance, finishing with 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting with four steals in just 24 minutes of action (sidelined most of first half with foul trouble). That total is the second-highest for a Bobcat in an NCAA Tournament game, the single-game record is Jasmine Martin's 24 points against No. 5 seed Oklahoma in 2015.

"Incredible," Coach Fabbri said when asked about Fay's impact. "It's not the first time I've seen a performance by her in that nature. She had it against Temple, and completely talented player offensively, great IQ, and you got to with firsthand on the big stage just how good she is, you saw incredible spin dribble. The ability to pull a three-point shot. When we need her the most she's been really great all season long. And she just wanted the ball all game long. She didn't shy away from the shot, whether she missed it or it went down, she wanted it. And she made incredible plays for us all evening. And we needed that. And she delivered."

Strautmane picked the absolute best time to break out of a scoring slump as the sophomore played big, finishing with 15 points (11 in the second half) while shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the free throw line. The 15-point mark tied for Strautmane's second-highest scoring total of the season (32 games played) while it marked her most points scored in the last 14 games (scored 16 vs. Manhattan on Jan. 10, 2017). Her play was crucial down the stretch as she either scored or assisted on 11 of the final 12 points for the Bobcats.

Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) paced the Bobcats in the first half scoring eight of her 11 points in the opening two quarters despite picking up two quick fouls. McClure has now played two great games in the two most meaningful contests of the season as she is coming off a sensational career high 28 points in the MAAC title game.

Two more Bobcats finished with at least eight points as Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) and Morgan Manz (Southbury, Connecticut) each added eight points in the victory.

As a team, Quinnipiac won the turnover battle 14-12 and dished out 20 assists on 28 made field goals. Quinnipiac's 52.8 field goal percentage (28-53 FG) also stands as their second-best percentage in a single-game this season.

Plagued by slow starts all season, Quinnipiac needed a strong opening quarter and the Bobcats certainly answered the call with a resounding 26-13 advantage at the end of the first. Going 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) from the floor, the 26-point frame is the highest-scoring first quarter for the Bobcats all season long.

The smaller Marquette squad had difficulties matching up with the size of the Bobcats early while Quinnipiac's trademark depth hit the Golden Eagles in waves as four different Bobcats tallied at least four points in the opening 10 minutes of play.

The lead ballooned to as many as 16 points just over one minute into the second quarter but a dominating answer from Marquette cut the Bobcat lead to 32-27. Proving themselves up to the challenge early in this one, Marquette's run was answered by a critical 11-3 Quinnipiac run to end the first half that made it 43-30 in favor of the Bobcats heading into halftime.

Quinnipiac's Cinderella story continues this weekend into Monday where the Bobcats will meet Miami in the Round of 32. Game time will be determined later tonight