Women's Basketball Visits Monmouth in Search of Season Sweep

Friday, February 1

West Long Branch, NJ / OceanFirst Bank Center

7:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Monmouth

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

Women's Basketball Visits Monmouth in Search of Season Sweep

1/31/2019 3:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Bobcats Look for 40th Conference Victory in a Row

HAMDEN, Conn. - Quinnipiac women's basketball turns the page to February with a tough two-game weekend in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play beginning with a Friday night tilt with the Monmouth University Hawks. The contest at OceanFirst Bank Center begins at 7:00 p.m. in West Long Branch, N.J.

LAST TIME OUT - QUINNIPIAC - W, 76-39 at Iona
Brittany Martin (Sicklerville, New Jersey) led all scorers with 16 points and shot 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Four Bobcats finished the game in double figures as Paige Warfel (Chester Springs, Pennsylvania) totaled 13 points, Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) had 12 and Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher, Ireland) recorded 11.

LAST TIME OUT - MONMOUTH - L, 76-54 vs. Niagara
Freshman Lucy Thomas scored a season-high 19 points on 9-13 from the floor. Junior Alexa Middleton registered her second double-double in three games, adding an impressive 17 points (8-11 FG) and 15 rebounds. Junior Sierra Green scored in double figures for the 15th time in 18 games, securing another 15 points on four triples.

THE SERIES
Dating back to play in the Northeast Conference, the Bobcats own a 27-17 edge in the all-time series with Monmouth. Since the two teams moved to the MAAC, Quinnipiac has won 12 of 14 matchups and the last five in a row. The teams last met on January 12 in Hamden, a game that resulted in a 67-38 Quinnipiac victory.

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

MAAC WIN STREAK
Last Sunday's win at Iona was the 39th-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 37-point victory over Iona lifted Quinnipiac's average margin of victory in MAAC play to 31.8 points through eight 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. She followed that performance with a 13-point outing against Iona, tying her career-high.

OFFENSE WAS ON
The Bobcats had a historically strong offensive performance against Niagara earlier this month, 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
The Niagara victory 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 program 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 65th-nationally in assist-turnover ratio. Her 2.00 mark is first among all MAAC players. The redshirt senior also ranks 20th 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 14 blocks in her last seven games, totaling 30 for the season. The senior ranks 72nd-nationally in total blocks and 73rd with 1.58 blocks per game. She ranks 24th amongst all active Division I players with 178 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. The Ireland native leads the MAAC in assist-to-turnover ratio in MAAC games.

SWIPER NO SWIPING
Quinnipiac's defense has been a primary key to success this season. The team is 20th in the nation with 11.4 steals per game and 17th with 216 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 (52.4 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 5th in turnover margin (+8.32) and 42nd in the nation in least turnovers per game (13.7). 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 40th nationally with 261 turnovers overall and ranks 12th with 22.05 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 106 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 20 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 106-14 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 (12+ attempts) since February 25, 2010 against Monmouth.

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 420 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 48th 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 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 93-4 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 159-15 (.912) in games where the Bobcats score 70 or more points, including 82-2 (.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 51 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 returns home for a Super Bowl Sunday matinee with Rider, who is currently in second place in the MAAC. The afternoon contest begins at 1:00 p.m. at the People's United Center.