March ‘MAACness’ is in full form. There were four women’s quarterfinals games yesterday, and there are four men’s quarterfinal games today. But in the middle of the women’s quarterfinals on Friday, some of the teams stepped away from practice and the film room to honor a select group of players and coaches within the MAAC.
In between the Iona-Siena game and the Marist-Saint Peter’s game, the MAAC held their award ceremony. Quinnipiac produced one of the most successful combined basketball programs in the MAAC this year, and both teams took home some hardware.
Quinnipiac women’s head coach Tricia Fabbri has the most wins in Quinnipiac school history, and she is just adding to her already storied resume. She’s nearing the end of her twentieth season with the Bobcats, and this year is also considered by some to be her most impressive. After finishing the regular season with a 28-3 record, undefeated in conference play, the Bobcats entered the postseason as the favorites to win the MAAC Championship. In honor of her success this year she was presented with the MAAC Women’s Coach of the Year award.
Afterwards Fabbri said that the depth on her team played an important role in what the team has accomplished. Not only this year, but the past four years.
“You need a lot of depth,” Fabbri said. “So we went out and recruited a lot of depth, and we’ve been able to turn that system, really into a lot of success over the last couple years.”
Fabbri won the award three times during Quinnipiac’s tenure in the Northeast Conference, but it was her first time winning the award since joining the MAAC.
Fabbri was not the only award recipient for the women’s team though. Junior Maria Napolitano has increased her numbers each year of her collegiate career, and she just finished the regular season with numbers that deemed her worthy of the Sixth Player of the Year award. Napolitano finished the regular season with 7.0 points per game to go along with 1.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 0.8 steals per game; all career highs.
Napolitano is the frontrunner in Quinnipiac’s second unit known as the “Gold Rush.” Along with junior Adily Martucci, Napolitano provides scoring and defense off of the bench. She is a key cog in Fabbri’s plan to sub out five players at a time, but she didn’t take all of the credit for the award.
“We’re not really a ‘sixth man’ team,” Napolitano said. “Although I’m honored for this [award], but this is as much my award as it is the other players that I play with.”
Napolitano gave a humble and modest response, and senior Ousmane Drame of the men’s team took a relatively similar approach after receiving the Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Quinnipiac’s big man averaged 14.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game during his senior campaign. He is leading the NCAA in double-doubles with 20, and leads the MAAC in rebounding and blocks. Drame’s numbers even placed him into the top 10 in the NCAA in the respective categories.
After thanking a handful of people, Drame described his maturation process, and what his four years at Quinnipiac meant to him.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride, looking back on my freshman year to now,” Drame said. “Especially with winning games and things like that, but I wouldn’t change it for nothing because I’ve learned a lot from it as a person.”
Drame may have played as last game in a Quinnipiac uniform on Thursday in his team’s first round loss to Marist. But the Quinnipiac women’s team is still in the midst of their playoff run. They play Siena tomorrow in the semifinal round at 11 a.m. for the chance to advance to their second consecutive MAAC Championship game.
