Quinnipiac University
Manhattan
Conference Play Begins at Manhattan
12/17/2020 4:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bobcats Open MAAC Slate Against Preseason #1
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 | 7:00 PM (ET) | Draddy Gymnasium | Riverdale, New York
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY BOBCATS (2-2) vs. Manhattan College Jaspers (2-1)
Watch (Friday) | Watch (Saturday) | Live Stats | Twitter - @QU_WBB | GAME NOTES: Quinnipiac | Manhattan
HAMDEN, Conn. - The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference portion of the 2020-21 season begins this weekend as Quinnipiac battles preseason favorite Manhattan in a two-game set. The teams will tip at 6:00 on Friday evening and 7:00 on Saturday, both games are slated for ESPN3 and ESPN+, respectively.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite career-high point and rebound totals from junior Amani Free, the Quinnipiac women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Army West Point, 51-50, at the People's United Center on Saturday afternoon.
Free recorded career highs in both points (16), and rebounds (7) in the loss, while unior guard Mackenzie DeWees recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
EVERYTHING COMING UP ROSE(s)
After tallying 31 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds in her first two games last week, junior transfer Rose Caverly was named MAAC Player of the Week by College Sports Madness.
The Brick, N.J. native also went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the win over Providence. Caverly followed her opening efforts with 14 points and 7 assists in Quinnipiac's Dec. 5 win over Fordham.
MACK ATTACK
Mackenzie DeWees notched her second double-double of the season against Army, making her the only player in the MAAC with multiple double-doubles this year.
She recently became the third Quinnipiac player since 2011 to record 30 or more rebounds in the first three games of a season. She joins Paige Warfel and Brittany McQuain on that list.
DeWees matched her career-best scoring mark with 16 points against Villanova on Nov. 29. The effort came just five days after setting a new career mark in rebounding, when she pulled down 14 boards against Providence on Nov. 25
GIMME MOR(E)-RIS
Sophomore forward Mikala Morris notched her first double-double of the season in a Bobcats win over Fordham on Dec. 5. The Ohio native tied a career high with 18 points, while pulling down 10 rebounds.
Morris recorded double-digit rebounds in six games last season along with three double-doubles. A four-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, Morris tallied 18 points against Canisius earlier in the season; the most points of any first-year player since Paula Strautmane scored 21 in a WNIT win over Maine in 2016. Morris was 9-12 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds, while Strautmane went 10-10 in her outing.
ALL-MAAC HONORS
Senior guard Shaquana Edwards and sophomore forward Mikala Morris have both been named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team.
Edwards averaged 12.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 26 games last season. The Preseason All-MAAC Second Team selection scored at least ten points in 19 of her 26 appearances in 2019-20. She scored a career-high 22 points vs. Rhode Island on December 12, 2019, shooting 9-19 from the field in the effort. The Hartford native scored in double figures in ten consecutive games from November 30 to January 25.
Morris, a member of the 2019-20 MAAC All-Rookie Team, appeared in 21 games last season, making 15 starts. She averaged 9.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while tallying 204 points in her rookie campaign. The Ohio native notched a career high of 18 points against Canisus (01/18) and recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against Manhattan (01/11).
THE 2019-20 SEASON
Quinnipiac finished 15-14 overall and 12-6 in league play to earn the the No. 5 overall seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. Quinnipiac clinched a first-round bye in the tournament for the seventh-straight season before games were canceled due to COVID-19.
GUESS WHO'S BACK?
Redshirt Senior Vanessa Udoji returned to action on Nov. 25 against Providence, 1,090 days after her last appearance, after missing two and a half years with injuries. The Massachusetts native scored two points in limited minutes in her return.
WHAT WOULD HAYWOOD DO?
Sophomore Cur'Tiera Haywood shot 46.7% (77-165) from the floor and 37.1% (26-70) from 3PT distance last season. Ashlee Kelly holds the QU rookie record for FG% in a season at 50% (72-144) and no rookie has ever shot above 40% from 3 with at least 40 attempts.
CAN'T BEAT SHAQ!
Last season, Edwards became the first player in Quinnipiac's Division I history to score 10+ points in her first three games as a Bobcat.
The junior added a career-best 22 points against Rhode Island, 20 at Hartford, Monmouth, and Canisius, 19 against Harvard, 18 against both GW & UCF, while totaling 18 double-digit outings for season. She is the only player in the progam's DI history to record double digits in 13 of her first 14 games to start a season.
THAT 70s SHOW
Since the 2007-08 season, Quinnipiac is 172-16 (.914) in games where the Bobcats score 70 or more points, including 95-3 (.969) 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 had a 57-game win streak in those contests until Thursday's loss to Iona. The last defeat was in overtime to FGCU in 2015-16 - the last regulation loss was to Oklahoma in the 2015 NCAA Tournament).
LEADER OF THE PACK
Head coach Tricia Fabbri enters her 26th season leading the Bobcats in 2020-21, as the five-time Coach of the Year (three in five MAAC seasons) and all-time winningest coach in program history has totaled 450 career victories, thus far. Fabbri's Bobcats reached the 20-win plateau in eight straight seasons until last year, won four conference titles in the last seven seasons and earned five consecutive MAAC Regular Season titles (2015-19). She is currently 44th on the list of active DI coaching victories.
PERFECTION
The 2018-19 season marked the second-straight unbeaten season in conference play for the Bobcats. It was the fourth undefeated season in program history and third as members of the MAAC.
MAAC WIN STREAK
The 2019 MAAC Championship win vs. Marist was the 52nd-straight MAAC victory for Quinnipiac, the longest in the history of the conference. Until last season's loss to Iona, the streak was the second-longest active streak in the nation, behind only Connecticut. Historically, the streak is the 10th-longest in the history of Division I women's basketball.
MAAC-TO-BACK
Quinnipiac finished the 2018-19 regular season as five-time defending MAAC regular season champions, earning the top record in conference play at 18-0 for two straight seasons. Quinnipiac has dominated the league since joining in 2013-14, going 129-20 in conference play (including postseason).
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 59-9 (.867) 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 52-6 (.897) at the People's United Center in conference games, with the first loss coming three years ago to Manhattan. The Bobcats saw a 36-game unbeaten streak in home MAAC games come to an end against Iona last season.
HITTING THAT MAGIC NUMBER
In 2018-19, the 13th 20-win season in program history made it eight in-a-row as well as ten in Fabbri's 25-year coaching career at Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac was one of just 19 teams across the nation and one of six mid-major programs to record eight straight 20+ win seasons. From 2011-12 to 2018-19, Quinnipiac compiled a record of 212-59 for a .785 win percentage which ranked 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 46 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 and now own a mark of 114-7 since the start of 2014-15 in games in which Quinnipiac leads at the half.
QUINNIPIAC IN THE POSTSEASON
Quinnipiac has won three-consecutive MAAC Championships and five conference titles in the last eight 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, after Maria Napolitano suffered an injury in the semifinal win over Monmouth. Three seasons ago, Quinnipiac won the 2017 MAAC Championship after winning its last 10 MAAC contests, including an 81-73 win over Rider in the title game. The last two season prior to 2019-20, the Bobcats completed two undefeated seasons with wins over Marist in the finals. Quinnipiac has made a trip to conference championship game in seven straight seasons and owns an all-time record of 26-15 in conference tournament games (16-2 since joining the MAAC).
