The Quinnipiac women’s basketball team continues its out of conference schedule on Tuesday night as it welcomes the Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten conference.
Quinnipiac, coming off two commanding Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference wins over Saint Peters and Siena, will look to continue their strong start to the season sitting at 6-1 (2-0 MAAC). Michigan State, coming off a win versus Oakland, looks to improve on its 7-2 record.
Key matchups:
Michigan State senior guard Tori Jankoska is the go to player for the Spartans. She is averaging 23.4 points per game and is shooting over 41 percent from behind the arc. She is the only Spartan averaging double figures in points and has the best three point percentage on the team. She has led her team in points in every game this season including a 32 point showcase versus Delaware and a 37 point performance in her last time out against Oakland. Whoever Tricia Fabbri throws at her needs to know where she is at all times.
Quinnipiac forward Jen Fay is off to a sizzling start just one year removed from ACL surgery that kept her out all of last season. Tricia Fabbri has been utilizing the gold rush in the past few games and Fay has been a key piece to either shift that Fabbri sends out. With double figures in points in the last two out of three games, including a 26 point explosion on the road against Temple, the Spartans will need to contain her to have a good shot at winning this game.
Keys to the Game:
Quinnipiac: Carly Fabbri has definitely been a disappointing piece to this Bobcat team in the early goings of the season. Coming off a season where she shot over 36 percent from three, she is expected to be able to hit a couple threes when the Bobcats need them. This season she is only shooting a disappointing 15.8 percent from three. This is allowing opposing defenses to not respect her shot and sag off. The Bobcats need to get her into a groove to have another offensive weapon that the defenses need to respect.
Michigan State: A secondary player needs to step up for the Spartans. Tori Jankoska is going to get her shots and her points, but in the off chance that she has a bad game, another Spartan needs to step up and take some of the offensive load off of her. Taya Reimer and Jenna Allen are both averaging just over 9 points per game compared to Jankoska’s 23 points per game. Either one of these players may be looked at by head coach Suzy Merchant to step up on the offensive end for the Spartans.
The Bobcats host the Spartans on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Lender Court at the TD Bank Sports Center.
