QU Women’s Basketball Speaks with Media on NCAA Second Round Practice Day
3/19/2017 5:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
#12 Quinnipiac vs. #4 Miami Tips at 9:00 PM on Monday Night, Fans Can Watch Live on ESPN2
- FULL TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE
- PHOTO GALLERIES
CORAL GABLES, Florida – Less than 24 hours removed from the biggest win in program history, members of the No. 12 seed Quinnipiac women's basketball team addressed members of the media prior to the team's practice at the Watsco Center in the lead-up to their NCAA Tournament Second Round matchup against host No. 4 seed Miami.
Head coach Tricia Fabbri, redshirt senior Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut), junior Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) and redshirt sophomore Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York) all fielded questions from members of the media.
Quinnipiac made history on Saturday, defeating the No. 5 seed Marquette 68-65 to claim the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. The Bobcats led wire-to-wire in the three-point victory over the Golden Eagles, leading by as many as 19 points before Marquette cut the lead to just three with six minutes remaining. Paula Strautmane (Riga, Latvia) was huge late, either scoring or assisting on 11 of the final 12 Bobcat points, while Martucci came up with a crucial block on a potential game-tying jumper with 20 seconds remaining. Fay cooked up an incredible performance on the offensive end, totaling 20 points while shooting 9-of-16 from the floor.
The Bobcats will face Miami on Monday, March 20 at 9:00 PM from the Watsco Center on their home campus. This will be the third all-time meeting between the two programs with Miami winning both prior contests. Fans in Connecticut and Florida can watch live on ESPN2 while the game can be seen nationwide on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
For the NCAA Second Round preview, click here.
Notable Quotes:
Coach Fabbri
"Yesterday was certainly an exciting day for our team, our alumni, our fans and the university. It was a great day. Once we were able to relax and enjoy a little bit we certainly buckled down and got to work on our next opponent once we found out that it was going to be Miami. Our focus and attention has been on Miami since last night. Today we woke up ready, all ready to film and scout and prepare for the Hurricanes tomorrow night."
"President (John) Lahey and his wife Judy were here yesterday at the game and he will be here tomorrow night. Just joy! He's been the biggest advocate for our university being at its best. What his vision was for this university, the building of York Hill and the arena, Quinnipiac being on the national stage. It came to fruition seeing his women's basketball team win a game in the NCAA Tournament. It was his plan. We talked about it, our goals and aspirations about winning games in the tournament. He has talked about this plan going forward and he felt like we did, sharing in the joy of attaining that goal and he was so pleased, so happy; and sharing in that moment with the President in our locker room. He was emotional and he was just joyful in sharing that moment with this team and he couldn't have been any happier. It was awesome."
"Look, they're a great team, extremely well-coached. They want to play fast. They have two great lead guards. They've got size. They have depth. They change their defenses. We're going to have our hands full on a home court that has great crowd, but this is why you play this game this time of year. We're one of a field of 32. I firmly believe that our experience going out to Vegas, seeing three games in three days, playing a New Mexico State team that gave Stanford all they could handle. Us playing and beating Long Beach State that went wire-to-wire against Oregon State, and seeing Oregon State, all those different style of games in three days has completely compared us for the weekend that we're having. I fully expect that we are going to be prepared. We are going to be ready for the moment again with Miami. It's not going to make it easier. They're talented. They play so hard. They play really well. We certainly have our work cut out for us. We're going to be ready to play, have a plan, go out and execute and certainly leave it all out on the floor for 40-plus minutes because we know it's this game, tomorrow night, that's standing between us and a Sweet 16."
Adily Martucci
"We're amped for this game tomorrow, there is no let-up. At the very least we wanted one win and tomorrow is another day to make more history. That's what it is."
Carly Fabbri
"I think we all knew this was an attainable goal. Obviously, still waking up in Miami is amazing, but I think we have the opportunity to get to the Sweet 16. But as much as it may seem "dream-like" it's a real one that we can attain. We are enjoying the experience but also having the mentality that this is a business trip for us."
Jen Fay
"I think they're a very different team than Marquette. They're more physical and obviously bigger. We've played against a lot of teams who were bigger than us throughout the season, so we're going to use our speed and try and run the floor and I think that will help us."
Players Mentioned
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