Bobcats Take Eight-Game Win Streak to Iona Sunday

Sunday, January 27

New Rochelle, NY / Hynes Athletic Center

1:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Iona

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1/26/2019 5:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball Looks to Remain Perfect in MAAC Play

HAMDEN, Conn. - Riding a seven-game win streak, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team will visit New Rochelle, New York to meet the Iona College Gaels on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The Bobcats take the fifth-best scoring defense in the nation to Hynes Athletic Center for their eighth MAAC contest of the season.

LAST TIME OUT - QUINNIPIAC - W, 68-31 vs. Siena
Junior Paige Warfel recorded the first double-double of her career with a 12-point, 10-rebound performance in the Bobcats' 68-31 wire-to-wire victory. Aryn McClure led all scorers with 16 points on 7-11 shooting. The senior hit seven of her last nine shots on the afternoon and added six boards, three assists, and two steals. Mackenzie DeWees had a career-high 10 rebounds in 18 minutes on the court. Brittany Martin scored ten points, her fifth double-digit effort in MAAC play

LAST TIME OUT - IONA - L, 55-42 vs. Fairfield
Freshman Juana Camilion scored a game-high 16 points, converting on a career best eight-of-nine free throw attempts. Junior transfer Morgan Rachu struggled all night long, shooting just 1-6 from the floor and finishing with a season-low three points. The Maroon & Gold outrebounded the Stags 40-29 and had an 18-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Rookie Gabrielle Joseph converted on all four of her tries from the charity stripe and pulled down a career-best nine rebounds,

THE SERIES
The Bobcats are 9-4 all-time against Iona and have won four straight against the Gaels, including the 2017 MAAC Semifinals where Quinnipiac eked out a 64-59 victory. Iona last defeated the Bobcats on January 28, 2017 and Quinnipiac has only lost once in the MAAC since that game.

D...D..D... DEFENSE!
Quinnipiac allowed just 31 points to Siena in Friday's win. The total is the lowest by any opponent since a 61-26 win over Albright on January 8, 1994.

MAAC WIN STREAK
Last Sunday's win at Canisius was the 38th-straight MAAC victory for Quinnipiac, the longest in the history of the conference. The streak currently stands as the third-longest active streak in the nation behind Connecticut and Drake. Historically, the current streak is the 17th-longest in the history of Division I.

WITHOUT A DOUBT
The 38-point victory over Siena lifted Quinnipiac's average margin of victory in MAAC play to 31 points through seven games.

WAR-FILLING UP THE BOX SCORE
Junior Paige Warfel scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against Siena on Friday, earning her first career double-double. The Pennsylvania native earned the second double-double of the year for the team as Jen Fay did so earlier this season.

OFFENSE WAS ON
The Bobcats had a historically strong offensive performance against Niagara last Friday, including 36 points in the first quarter alone. That output was the team's highest point total in a single quarter since switching from halves to quarters in 2015-16. The last time the Bobcats scored 30+ points in a quarter was in the fourth quarter of last season's NCAA Tournament First Round win over #8-seeded Miami.

NO, SERIOUSLY, THIS TEAM WAS EN FUEGO
Last Friday marked the first time ever that Quinnipiac had two 30+ point quarters in the same game and the third time in two years that the Bocbats have posted 50+ points in a half. The 96-point tally was the highest for the proram since February 7, 2015 against Rider.

SPREAD THE WEALTH
The performance against Niagara was the fifth-straight game that at least four Bobcats scored in double figures. Six players hit the 10-point mark against the Purple Eagles.

FAY DAY
Jen Fay ranks 74th-nationally in assist-turnover ratio. Her 2.00 mark is second among all MAAC players. The redshirt senior also ranks 19th in the nation among all active players with 123 games played in her career. Fay recently reached career marks of 600 rebounds and 200 assists, after scoring her 1,000th-career point earlier this season.

LATVIAN BLOCK PARTY
Paula Strautmane has posted 12 blocks in her last five games, totaling 28 for the season. The senior ranks 73rd-nationally in total blocks and 79th with 1.56 blocks per game. She ranks 24th amongst all active Division I players with 176 career blocks.

DELLY DELLY
Senior Edel Thornton scored a season-high 15 points in the win over Niagara, sinking a trio of three-pointers in the contest.

SWIPER NO SWIPING
Quinnipiac's defense has been a primary key to success this season. The team is 23rd in the nation with 11.2 steals per game and 22nd with 201 total steals.

FOX HUNTING
Last Thursday's win over Marist was the seventh-straight win for the Bobcats against their MAAC rivals. Quinnipiac has won 10 of the last 11 matchups after losing three times in 2013-14, the team's first season in the MAAC.

LOCK 'EM CATS
The Bobcats rank sixth in the country and first in the MAAC in scoring defense (53.2 opp ppg). Quinnipiac allowed just 2 points to Siena in the first quarter of last month's contest. It was the lowest point total in a quarter for any Bobcat opponent since Marist scored one in a quarter on February 23, 2017. Since that contest, the Bobcats defense has played four additional 4-point quarters (Richmond, Fairfield, Saint Peter's, and Monmouth).

LOW TURNOVER RATE
Quinnipiac ranks 6th in turnover margin (+7.50) and 54th in the nation in least turnovers per game (14.1). The team's six turnovers against Missouri on November 24 were the team's least in a non-conference game since joining the Division I ranks. The team's 71 total turnovers through six games was also the lowest six-game total to start a season in Quinnipiac's Division I history. The team is 54th nationally with 253 turnovers overall and ranks 18th with 21.56 forced turnovers per game.

GRAND OLE' BOBCATS
Paula Strautmane scored her 1000th career point in this month's win over Monmouth. The senior joined classmates Aryn McClure and Jen Fay as the three active Bobcats to reach the plateau. She, Fay, and McClure are the first trio of classmates in program history to each record 1,000 points.

THAT'S MORE LIKE IT
The Bobcats recorded season-highs in points (90), field goals made (35), three-point % (50.0), assists (23), rebounds (44), and steals (21) against Saint Peter's this month. This came just three days after setting then season-highs in points (81), field goals made (31), field goal % (50.8), three-point % (47.6), and assists (20) against Fairfield.

R-P.. R-P-I
According to the official NCAA RPI, the Bobcats finished the non-conference portion of the schedule at 71st on the RPI list and played the 24th toughest schedule in the nation. The Bobcats currently stand at 60th in the RPI after the first seven games of the MAAC schedule.

RUNNING AWAY WITH IT
The victory over Niagara was Quinnipiac's eighth win of 40+ points since the beginning of the 2015-16 season. The Bobcats have 105 conference victories (regular season and playoffs) since joining the conference in 2013-14.

HERD YOU!
Taylor Herd's five three-pointers against Fairfield were the most in her three-year career and the most by a Bobcat since Carly Fabbri hit five against Fairfield on February 2, 2018. She followed that performance with four triples each in games against Marist, Monmouth, and Canisius, tallying 19 threes so far in the month of January.

MORE FOR MCCLURE
With her first of three assists against UCF, Aryn McClure became the first Bobcat of all-time to record 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, and 300 assists (Queenie Edwards & Erin Kerner). She also recorded her 700th career rebound in the contest. The senior was named the MAAC Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness Player of the Week.

MAAC-TO-BACK
Quinnipiac enters the 2018-19 season as four-time defending MAAC regular season champions, earning the top record in conference play at 18-0 last year. Quinnipiac has dominated the league since joining in 2013-14, going 105-14 in conference play (including postseason).

FREE FOR ALL
Paige Warfel went 9-9 from the free throw line on Thursday at Marist, matching Brittany Martin's total in this season's win over Ball State, 9-9 is the third most free throws in a game without a miss in Quinnipiac's history. The team knocked down its first 15 freebies of the game vs. Ball State, finishing 21-23 (91.3%) from the stripe, the best percentage (with more than 12 attempts) since February 25, 2010 against Monmouth. Martin followed her performance with a 4-4 night at Harvard. 13 free throws in a row is the longest streak by a Bobcat since Taylor Herd made 10 in a row over the course of nine games last year.

LEADER OF THE PACK
Head coach Tricia Fabbri enters her 24th season leading the Bobcats in 2018-19, as the five-time Coach of the Year (third in five MAAC seasons) and all-time winningest coach in program history has totaled 418 career victories, thus far. Fabbri's Bobcats have reached the 20-win plateau in seven straight seasons, won four conference titles in the last six seasons and earned four consecutive MAAC Regular Season titles. She is currently 49th on the list of active DI coaching victories.

GOTTA LOVE THAT HOME COOKIN'
Quinnipiac's extended home dominance is particularly impressive when looking at games against MAAC opponents, as the Bobcats stand with a mark of 50-4 (.923) at home in league games since joining the conference in 2013-14. That prominence is only magnified when looking a since 2014-15, as the Bobcats are 44-1 (.977) at the People's United Center in conference games, with the only loss coming three years ago to Manhattan. The Bobcats are currently riding a 31-game unbeaten streak in home games against MAAC foes.

WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES
Freshman Mackenzie DeWees scored 13 points against Central Michigan. Her points were the most by a Bobcats freshman since Vanessa Udoji scored 16 against Saint Peter's on Dec. 1, 2016.

ROAD WARRIORS
The game at Harvard marked the latest into the season the Bobcats have ever played a home opener, as the 2018-19 season began with seven straight games away from home. The seven-game road trip was the longest to start a season in Quinnipiac's Division I history.

ANOTHER NATIONAL POSTSEASON APPEARANCE
Quinnipiac's fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament last year marked the seventh straight national postseason appearance for the Bobcats and the eighth in program history. Quinnipiac earned its first national postseason appearance with a trip to Iona in the 2008 WNIT Tournament and then made a second WNIT Tournament appearance in 2012 against Temple. The first NCAA Tournament berth came in 2013 as the Bobcats earned a No. 13 seed to play at No. 4 Maryland. Quinnipiac also took home the 2015 MAAC Championship, claiming a No. 12 seed and facing No. 5 Oklahoma. In the 2014 and 2016 postseason, the Bobcats advanced to the WNIT, defeating Maine, 90- 44, in 2016 for the program's first-ever postseason win.

FIRST NATIONALLY RANKED WINS COME AT RIGHT TIME
The Bobcats are 2-15 all-time against nationally-ranked competition and own an all-time mark of 10-39 against teams in high-major conferences (ACC, BIG EAST, Big 12, B1G, Pac-12 and SEC). After going 0-for-9 in their first nine games against ranked foes, Quinnipiac won two straight games against nationally-ranked opponents in the 2017 NCAA Tournament before bowing out to the eventual NCAA Champions South Carolina (last year's non-conference schedule included losses to nationally-ranked Missouri and Ohio State). Quinnipiac had its first ranked win in an NCAA First Round victory over a Marquette squad that came in ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll and followed that up with a road triumph over No. 16 Miami. The Bobcats' six other wins over high-major foes have come against Alabama, Minnesota, St. John's (NY), Syracuse and Providence (four times, including this season on Nov. 15).

HITTING THAT MAGIC NUMBER
Quinnipiac's 28 wins last season marked 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. Quinnipiac is one of just 20 teams across the nation and one of six mid-major programs to record seven straight 20+ win seasons. Over those last seven complete seasons, Quinnipiac has compiled a record of 186-52 for a .782 win percentage which ranks as the tenth-best overall mark in the nation.

THE ULTIMATE CLOSERS
Quinnipiac has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past four 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. 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 and 19-0 in 2017- 18 to give Quinnipiac a mark of 92-4 since the start of 2014-15 in games in which Quinnipiac leads at the half.

THAT 70s SCORING SHOW
Since the 2007-08 season, Quinnipiac is 158-15 (.912) in games where the Bobcats score 70 or more points, including 81-2 (.976) combined since 2014-15. During 2017-18 (20-0), 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 plateau. Quinnipiac has improved its current win streak in those contests to 50 in a row (the last defeat was in overtime to FGCU in 2015-16 - the last regulation loss was to Oklahoma in the 2015 NCAA Tournament).

NEXT UP
Quinnipiac remains on the road on Friday evening as they travel to West Long Branch, New Jersey to battle the Monmouth Hawks at 7:00 p.m. The Bobcats defeated Monmouth 67-38 earlier this season in Hamden.