By Kevin Noonan, QBSN Staff Writer
From the opening tip to the final buzzer, the Quinnipiac Bobcats dominated the Bryant Bulldogs en route to the Northeast Conference Quarterfinal victory 79-55.
The Bobcats went on a 14-0 run to start the game after Bryant took a 2-0 lead, then had another 10-0 run to make it 26-6 Quinnipiac in the first half.
“I think our young ladies have a great focus and attention to detail and never get too far on themselves, so I think we were ready to go out and play and get this tournament started,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said.
Quinnipiac was led offensively by junior Brittany McQuain (Independence, Mo.) with 11 points and 16 rebounds, including eight offensive, while sophomore Samantha Guastella (Red Bank, N.J.) drained three 3-pointers and scored 13 points.
“I think that was just my mindset going into it. My role on this team is to rebound, so just go up and get every ball that comes off the rim,” McQuain said.
The Bobcats had four players register double digit points in the rout. Bryant turned the ball over 27 times which lead to 28 points off turnovers for Quinnipiac.
“I think it’s because of the pressure and pace that we’ve talked about. You’ve heard me say it, it almost gets a bit redundant, but it’s been the key to our success,” Fabbri said.
Every player who entered the game for the Bobcats scored and grabbed one rebound, including six points and three rebounds from freshman Katie Carroll (West Lake, Ohio) who saw increased playing time in the quarterfinal game.
“You saw Katie Carroll take advantage of an opportunity. She was ready to go; she’s been primed all season. It was awesome to see her come out and be such a contributing factor in a win today, in a playoff win,” Fabbri said.
The Quinnipiac bench scored 36 points in increased playing time, as they came out and picked up the intensity from the starters in the game.
Despite scoring 79 points, the Bobcats struggled to shoot from the field at only 36 percent compared to Bryant’s 42 percent. The focus all season long for Quinnipiac has been on defense, as the players recognize the offense will come.
“We’re all just focused, we know if we don’t play defense then the score isn’t going to be in our favor. We just keep that a point, even more than our offense sometimes, and I kinda think we lose it a little bit to make sure we’re playing great defense and then our offense will come,” McQuain said.
Quinnipiac grabbed 18 more steals in the game, make it 25 games on the season which they have had double digit steals.
The Bobcats wait to hear their opponent for the semifinal matchup in the NEC tournament that will continue on Wednesday. Despite not knowing, Fabbri knows what the team needs to do in order to get ready for whoever they will face.
“I’d like to see us shoot it just a little bit better than we did tonight. Tomorrow’s usually an off day but I think we’re just gonna get back in the gym … we’re gonna run through and keep our elbows loose,” Fabbri said.
Even though Fabbri wants the shooting to improve, it is the defense that continues to keep the Bobcats alive in the playoffs.
