By Gilbert A. Celaya, QBSN Staff Writer

The No. 1 seeded Quinnipiac women’s basketball team defeated the No. 6 seeded Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, 63-56, in a highly energized NEC semifinal game on Wednesday night at the TD Bank Sports Center.

This was third time that both teams have faced one another in the NEC tournament with Quinnipiac knocking out the Mount all three times.  Quinnipiac is now 20-7 all time against Mount St. Mary’s with the Bobcats winning the last six meetings.

The Bobcats were caught on their heels to start the game as the Mount played tough defense and attacked on offense. As the aggressors in the first half, the Mountaineers out-hustled and out-rebounded the Bobcats.  Eight of the 19 first half rebounds for Mount St. Mary’s came from the offensive side of the ball. Mount St. Mary’s stellar defense earned them eight steals and caused 11 Quinnipiac turnovers.

Both teams shot 40 percent from the field in the first half.  The difference, however, was that the Mount shot 41.7 percent from the three-point line, while QU shot 37.5 percent.  The Mountaineers took a 34-29 lead into the half.

Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri credited the Mountaineers coaching staff for their first half style of play and for taking the lead at the intermission.

“They did a really good job in prepping their team.  Early on, we weren’t getting on the hedge on their pick-and-roll high enough to pin them to a side,” Fabbri said.

In the second half, the Bobcats clawed their way back into the game as they attempted to slow down the Mountaineers fast-paced style of play.  Quinnipiac picked up the slack on defense as the Mountaineers committed three shot clock violations.  The Bobcats had nine steals and caused the Mount to turn the ball over 21 times in the game.

Fabbri expressed how her team stayed united throughout the semifinal contest against the Mount.

“We never lost composure, we stayed together, and we played our brand of basketball for certainly 15 minutes of the last 20 minutes of the second half,” stated Fabbri.

With just less than 15 minutes left in the game, Quinnipiac sophomore guard Jasmine Martin (Slicklerville, N.J.) hit a three-pointer to make bring the Bobcats within two points making the score 41-38 in favor of the Mountaineers.  Martin then stole a pass o the next play and converted the turnover into a lay-up bring the Bobcats within one point.

Then at the 13:51 mark, Bobcats sophomore forward Samantha Guastella (Red Bank, NJ) put up a three-pointer with to give the Bobcats a 43-41 lead.  The Bobcats never relinquished the lead after that.

“It was tough game.  Mount came ready to play, but the first half wasn’t going our way.  And in the second half, we just had to leave everything out on the floor because either it’s win or go home so we wanted to keep going,” Martin said of Wednesday night’s semifinal game.

The rest of the second half became the Martin show as she led all scorers with 22 points, had four rebounds, and three steals on the night.  Quinnipiac junior forward Brittany McQuain (Independence, Mo.) was huge on the boards with eight rebounds in the game.

Martin commented on her semifinal performance while crediting her father with inspiration.

“I made up my mindset that I had to take over coming out of halftime.  I usually look up at my dad sometimes, and I looked up at him and he said ‘take over’.  I was planning on doing that anyway, but hearing it from him just encouraged me.  I was ready.  The team did what we had to do, I did what I had to do and we came out with a win,” Martin said.

With the NEC semifinal win, the Bobcats extend their winning streak to 21 wins.  QU will play St. Francis University on Sunday for the NEC Title. Fabbri knows that her team needs to prepare for the St. Francis style of play.

“St Francis (Pa.) is in my opinion the best defensive team outside of ourselves that we are going to see.  We’re going to need to get prepared for that pressure,” Fabbri said. “It’s going to be a heck of a game.  They defend, they rebound, they run, they don’t turn the ball over, but we’re going to be ready for personnel and do what we do.”

If the Bobcats lose in the NEC Championship game, unfortunately they may not receive a bid into the NCAA tournament.  However, Fabbri is keeping her hopes up.

“I’m still optimistic with the season that we’ve had, and the quality wins we did have that we’re clearly on the board and we’re clearly being discussed in that room with the selection committee, I know that for a fact,” Fabbri said.  “We don’t want to put it into anyone else’s hands to decide, we want to take care of business on Sunday.”

The Quinnipiac Bobcats will play in the NEC Championship Final versus St. Francis at the TD Bank Sports Center.  Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. on ESPNU.