MAAC Semifinal Features Title Game Rematch Between QU Women's Basketball and Rider

Sunday, March 4

Albany, NY

11:00 AM

Quinnipiac University

Rider

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MAAC Semifinal Features Title Game Rematch Between QU Women's Basketball and Rider

3/3/2018 7:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: QU Athletic Communications

Sunday Mar. 4, 2018 | 11:00 AM (ET) | MAAC Semifinals| Times Union Center, Albany, New York | ESPN3
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY BOBCATS (25-5, 18-0 MAAC) vs. RIDER UNIVERSITY BRONCS (14-16, 8-10 MAAC)
Watch It Live: ESPN3
Follow Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Listen Live: AM 1220 WQUN
Updates: @QU_WBB

Semifinal Supplemental Notes: QUINNIPIAC
Postseason Guide: QUINNIPIAC
All-Time Series vs. Rider: QU leads 12-0
Current Streak:  QU - 12 straight

ALBANY, New York - The top-seeded Quinnipiac University women's basketball team continues its quest for its second-consecutive MAAC Tournament championship, as the Bobcats will take on No. 5 Rider on Sunday, Mar. 4 in the semifinals at 11 AM at the Times Union Center in Albany.

THE SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 4, 2018 – MAAC Semifinals (ESPN3)
Game 8: No. 1 Quinnipiac vs. No. 5 Rider           11:00 AM
Game 9: No. 2 Marist vs. No. 3 Siena                  1:30 PM

Monday, March 5, 2018 – MAAC Championship (ESPNU)
Game 10: Winner of Gm. 8 vs. Winner of Gm. 9       2:30 PM

THE TOURNAMENT
The 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament is held March 1-5 at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The regular season champion receives an automatic bid into the 2016 WNIT Tournament if they do not win the tournament.

ESPN FAMILY OF NETWORKS
Courtesy of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), several of the tournament's games can be seen nationally on the ESPN family of networks. The championship game will be televised nationally on ESPNU while all of the other games can be seen on ESPN3.

THE 2017-18 SEASON
Quinnipiac finished 24-5 overall and 18-0 in league play to earn the 2017-18 MAAC Regular Season Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Quinnipiac clinched its fourth straight MAAC Regular Season title, going undefeated in regular season conference play for the third time in program history and third time in six seasons. The regular season title is the Bobcats' fifth in the six years dating back to the 2012-13 campaign where Quinnipiac was crowned the NEC Regular Season Champions.

QUINNIPIAC IN THE POSTSEASON
Quinnipiac came intio the 2018 MAAC tournament seeking a fifth straight MAAC Championship game appearance while the Bobcats are trying to capture their fourth conference title in the last six seasons. The Bobcats claimed the 2013 NEC Tournament title after an undefeated (18-0) run through league play and in 2015 the Bobcats rolled through the MAAC eventually winning the 2015 MAAC Championship while going undefeated (20-0) through league play. In 2016, Quinnipiac won 19 straight games before being bounced in the MAAC title game to Iona, 58-44, suffering a back-breaking injury to Maria Napolitano in the semifinal win over Monmouth. Last season, Quinnipiac won the 2017 MAAC Championship after winning its last 10 MAAC contestsm including an 81-73 win over Rider in the title game

Moving to the MAAC in 2013-14, Quinnipiac upset No. 1 seed Iona on their way to an appearance in the 2014 MAAC Championship game. Quinnipiac has made a trip to conference championship game six straight seasons and owns an all-time record of 21-15 in conference tournament games (11-2 since joining the MAAC).

SCOUTING RIDER
- No. 5 seed Rider ended the regular season with a 13-16 (10-8 MAAC) record.
- The Broncs are led by sophomore Stella Johnson who averages 15.4 points per game, which is fifth best in the MAAC.
- Senior Kamila Hoskova is not far behind with 14.6 points per game.
- Three members of the Rider University women's basketball players earned All-MAAC honors. Sophomore Stella Johnson and senior Kamila Hoskova picked up Second Team All-MAAC honors, while freshman Jaiden Morris landed on the MAAC All-Rookie
Team.
- Rider is 2-5 this year in games decided by five points or fewer this year.
The Broncs had dropped their first four such games of the season, including an overtime setback at home versus Siena, before topping Saint Peter's on January 2.
- This season, Rider is 12-0 when holding opponents to under 60 points.
Rider has held their opponents under 60 points in all 10 of their conference
wins this season

ALL-TIME VS. RIDER
- The Bobcats own a 12-0 record against the Rider Broncs and went 2-0 against them in the regular season.
- Quinnipiac holds a 1-0 series lead over Rider all-time in the MAAC Tournament.
- The two teams met in the 2017 MAAC Tournament Championship, where the - Bobcats came away with an 81-73 win over the Broncs.
- Aryn McClure scored a career-high 28 points in the championship to lead the Bobcats to the win and automatic NCAA Tournament berth,
- Jen Fay registered a double-double in the win with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
- Adily Martucci added 16 points in the win.
- Aryn McClure registered a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Paula Strautmane added 11 points and eight rebounds in the win.

20-STRAIGHT AND COUNTING
Quinnipiac's 20-consecutive wins is tied for the fifth-longest active win streak in the nation Belmont. Quinnipiac is two wins away from tying its program-record of 22 straight wins, which was set during the 2012-13 season.

29 IS FINE
Quinnipiac's 83-44 victory over Monmouth on Friday, Mar. 2 was the Bobcats' 29th-straight win against a MAAC opponent dating back to last season. The 29 consecutive conference wins is Quinnipiac's longest win streak against MAAC opponents since joining the conference prior to the 2013-14 season.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
Quinnipiac finished the 2017-18 season as four-time defending MAAC regular season champions, earning the top record in conference play. Owning a 73-6 (.924) regular season mark against MAAC competition since the 2014-15 season where the Bobcats went 20-0 in MAAC play, Quinnipiac has dominated the league since joining in 2013-14. Now in exclusive company, Quinnipiac is one of just six programs in the nation (UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame, DePaul and Green Bay) to win four straight regular season titles since the 2014-15 season.

ALL-MAAC HONORS
Three members of the Quinnipiac women's basketball team – Jen Fay (Lynbrook, New York), Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) and Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) – have been earned All-MAAC honors as the league announced on Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. Fay and McClure were named to the All-MAAC First Teams while Fabbri was named to the All- MAAC Third Team. With the three selections, Quinnipiac now has seen 16 players in four seasons as a MAAC institution earn All-Conference laurels. Ever since moving to Div. I in 1998-99, Quinnipiac has seen 37 players earn All-Conference nods. This is the first time since 2014-15 where the Bobcats have had a player make First-Team honors and the first-time in program history where Quinnipiac has had two First-Team All-Conference selections in the same season.

COACH OF THE YEAR
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced its major award winners for the 2017-18 season on Friday morning, March 2, where Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri was named The MAAC Coach of the Year for the third time in her career. Fabbri earns her sixth career Coach of the Year honor as she led the Bobcats to a 24-5 record in the regular season, making it the seventh consecutive season that the Bobcats have won at least 20 games.

PLAY HARD, STUDY HARDER
A total of 11 members of the Quinnipiac University women's basketball team were named to the 2017-18 MAAC Women's Basketball All-Academic Team, as announced by the league office on Friday, March 2, 2018. The 11 Bobcats to make the list included: Carly Fabbri, Taylor Herd, Vanessa Udoji, Sarah Shewan, Jen Fay, Jaden Ward, Katie Grant, Brittany Johnson, Paige Warfel, Paula Strautmane and Edel Thornton. The MAAC released a total of 75 student-athletes that made up the 2017-18 Women's Basketball All-Academic Team. To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must finish at least two semesters at their institution and must hold a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.

400 AND BEYOND
Quinnipiac women's basketball head coach Tricia Fabbri earned her 400th career win in an 83-72 victory over Siena. Fabbri is the all-time winningest coach in program history and the first female head coach in Quinnipiac Athletics history to reach 400 career wins. Fabbri is also the fifth coach in Quinnipiac Athletics history to reach 400 wins. Fabbri's 400 career wins places her fifth all-time in QU Athletics history behind Dan "Skip" Gooley (531), Rand Pecknold (481), Mike Quitko (481) and Burt Kahn (459).

TOP SPOT IN THE MAAC
Quinnipiac finished the regular season with the lead in 11 different statistical categories out of 21 major team statistics. Quinnipiac led the MAAC in scoring offense (71.4), scoring defense (58.5), scoring margin (+13.1), three-point field goal percentage (34.5), blocked shots (4.4), assists (17.3), steals (10.7), turnover margin (+6.28), assist/turnover ratio (1.4), defensive rebound percentage (71.6) and three-point field goals made per game (8.8).

DEE-FENSE
Quinnipiac's defense led the MAAC all season as the Bobcats allowed 58.6 points per game (53rd-best mark in the nation). Quinnipiac allowed fewer than 60 points per game for just the fourth time in the program's Div. I history (2016-17 - 58.6, 2015-16 – 58.7, 2012-13 – 57.4, 2007-08 – 58.7). In MAAC regular season games, Quinnipiac allowed a miniscule 54.2 PPG while opponents shot just 37.2 percent from the floor in conference play. season.

FLOOR GENERAL
Senior guard Carly Fabbri has dircted Quinnipiac's potent offense on a consistent basis all season. Fabbri is averaging 4.7 assists per game in league games, which ranks first in the MAAC. More impressively, Fabbri leads the MAAC with a 3.08 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is ninth best in the nation.

EVERYBODY EATS
The Bobcats play a very unselfish brand of basketball, as Quinnipiac leads the MAAC with 18.6 assists per game in league games as a team. The Bobcats spread the ball around evenly as five different players have lead the team in scoring at least three times and five different players rank in the top-30 in the MAAC in points per game.

ACTIVE HANDS
The Bobcats are one of the top defensive units in the league as they rank second in the league in blocks per game (4.4) and first in steals per game (11.8).

CLIMBING THE NATIONAL RANKS
The Bobcats average only 12.5 turnovers per game, which ranks 23rd in the nation. Quinnipiac's 1.36 assist-to-turnover ratio is 16th best in the nation, while its 6.11 turnover margin ranks 15th in the nation.

BIG MOVERS IN THE MAAC
Since joining the MAAC in 2013-14, Quinnipiac has reeled off a record of 97-14 (.873) in all games against MAAC opponents and 87-12 (.878) in regular season MAAC games, both records that currently lead all teams in the conference.

LEADING THE HERD
After spending much of her rookie season on the bench, sophomore Taylor Herd has seen her role increase substantivally this season, first breaking through with a career high 10 points (3-7 FG, 2-4 3FG) in 13 minutes at nationally-ranked Ohio State (11/17). After scoring nine points in 13 games last season, Herd eclipsed her entire career scoring output in one game as she went for 10 points, including eight in the first half. She made her first career start on Dec. 3 at Hampton, filling in for injured Vanessa Udoji, and has remained in the starting lineup ever since. She matched her career high with 10 points in her second career start in a Dec. 6 win over Providence. Herd set a new career-high in points after she dropped 16 points (4-9 3FG) in a win over Niagara (1/4). Herd tied her career-high with 16 points (4-9 3FG) in a win over Iona (1/6). Herd scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds in a win over Fairfield (2/02).

HOME LOVIN
The TD Bank Sports Center, home of the Quinnipiac Bobcats, has long been one of the most difficult arenas to play at in the country. Since the 2012-13 season, Quinnipiac owns a record of 76-8 (.904) in games played at home. In just the last three-plus seasons (since 2014-15), Quinnipiac owns a mark of 51-4 (.927). That mark ranks as the 10th-best home win percentage in the nation over that span. Quinnipiac currently has a 27-game home conference winning streak, dating back to a loss to Manhattan in its home MAAC opener in 2015-16.

HITTING THAT MAGIC NUMBER
Quinnipiac's 64-39 win over Canisius on Friday, Feb. 9 clinched yet another 20-win campaign for Head Coach Tricia Fabbri in 2017-18.The 12th 20-win season in program history made it seven in-a-row as well as the ninth in Fabbri's 23-year coaching career at Quinnipiac. The Bobcats are one of just 19 teams in the nation to win at least 20 games in seven straight seasons. Of those teams, the Bobcats have the 10th best record of the teams, going 182-51 (.781).

THE ULTIMATE CLOSERS
Quinnipiac has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past three seasons when building a first half lead. After starting 2016-17 with a mark of 2-0 when owning a halftime lead, the Bobcats saw one of their most impressive streaks in program history come to an end in a 71-68 loss at Temple. Quinnipiac's three-point loss signaled the first time the Bobcats had lost a game in which they held a halftime lead since the 2014 MAAC Championship game against Marist. The undefeated streak, which lasted over the course of three seasons, came to an end at 45 straight wins for the Bobcats when holding a halftime lead. Quinnipiac went undefeated in both 2014-15 (24-0) and 2015-16 (19-0) and for the first two games of 2016-17 before suffering the defeat. Overall, however, the Bobcats went 22-2 in the 2016-17 season to give Quinnipiac a mark of 69-2 since the start of 2014-15 in games in which Quinnipiac leads at the half, while this year's 18-0 record with halftime leads has improved that mark to 85-2 (.976).

THAT 70s SCORING SHOW
Since the 2007-08 season, Quinnipiac is 150-15 (.909) in games wherein the Bobcats score 70 or more points, including 73-2 (.973) combined since 2014-15. During 2016-17 (16-0), 2012-13 (18-0) and 2010-11 (8-0), the Bobcats compiled undefeated records in each respective season when reaching the 70-point scoring plaeau. So far this year, Quinnipiac has won all 18 games when scoring 70 or more, improving its win streak in those contests to 40 in a row (the last defeat was a 71-70 loss in overtime to Florida Gulf Coast in 2015-16 - the last regulation loss was to Oklahoma in the 2015 NCAA Tournament).

Quinnipiac's Record in Games Scoring 70+ Points Since 07-08
Season Record
2017-18 18-0
2016-17 16-0
2015-16 13-1
2014-15 28-1
2013-14 14-6
2012-13 18-0
2011-12   9-3
2010-11     8-0
2009-10       5-2
2008-09     11-1
2007-08   11-1
Total (10+ Seasons) 151-15 (.909)

BOY CAN THE BOBCATS PROTECT THE BALL
In its win over Monmouth on Feb. 25, Quinnipiac dished out 26 assists while committing only 10 turnovers. The Bobcats finished the regular season in first place in the MAAC and are ranked 16th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.36). That's nothing new, though, as the team's philosophy is predicated on smart passes and protecting the ball on offense. Quinnipiac has ranked in the top two in the MAAC in assist/turnover ratio in each of the last six seasons while ranking Top 20 in the nation four times. Senior point guard Carly Fabbri also currently leads the league individually and is ranked ninth in the nation with an impressive 3.10 ratio (124 assists, and only 40 turnovers through 29 games)

Assist/Turnover Ratio Last Six Seasons
Season       Games   APG   TPG   A/TO   NCAA   CONF
2012-13       33            16.9   14.5   1.17   10th     1st (NEC)
2013-14       34            16.3   13.1   1.24   20th        2nd (MAAC)
2014-15       35            19.6   13.3   1.47   5th      1st (MAAC)
2015-16       34            15.4   14.9   1.03   51st        2nd (MAAC)
2016-17       36            16.2   14.7   1.11   46th        1st (MAAC)
2017-18       30            17.0   12.5   1.36   15th        1st (MAAC)
Total            201            16.90   13.83 1.23   --               --

NEXT UP
With a win, Quinnipiac will advance to the MAAC Championship where the Bobcats will await the winner of No. 2 Marist vs. No. 3 Siena. The championship game is set for Monday, March 5 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.