All good shooters have heard the comment “keep shooting” from their coaches and for Morgan Manz that is no different.
The senior captain for the Quinnipiac Bobcats had a solid game in Quinnipiac’s first round matchup against Marquette in which she scored eight points. Manz was the go to player on Monday night, as she helped lead her team into the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
After beating Marquette on Saturday the Bobcats advanced to face the fourth seeded Miami Hurricanes on its home floor. The Bobcats had to withstand a lot of Miami pressure and Manz led that defense with her three pointers.
Manz led the Bobcats in scoring with 22 points, on 7-9 shooting from the field. The thing that was most impressive about Manz’s performance was the fact that she went 6-8 from the three-point line. Manz’s 22 points set a new career high and it could not have come at a better time for the Bobcats as they clinched a spot in the Sweet 16.
When the Bobcats needed a shot the most Manz popped up with clutch three after clutch three. Manz is shooting 34 percent from behind the three-point line this season, which puts her tied for third on the team with fellow senior captain Adily Martucci.
“My teammates and coaches all have the upmost confidence, more confidence than I do in my shots. I’ve just did what my coaches have been asking me to do for the last four years and that was just shoot it. I just let it fly because we had nothing to lose,” Quinnipiac forward Morgan Manz said.
Quinnipiac has had some bad shooting nights this season, but they have not let that discourage them from shooting three pointers. Quinnipiac knows that it has the shooters, but it is not if the ball will go in the hoop but rather when. The ball has continuously gone in the hoop for the Bobcats through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.
Manz was missing shots in the pregame shoot around prior to the game versus Miami but once she stepped onto the court, everything was going in for Manz. Manz only missed two shots all game. She shot 77.8 percent from the field and 75 percent from the three-point line.
Manz has a strange shooting form but it is something that has become natural to her because she has followed her coaches instruction of “keep shooting.” Manz was noticing that her shot was little flat in the pregame shoot around, so she wanted to focus on getting more arc onto her shot.
“I’ve been a shooter growing up. My coaches always told me to keep shooting. I feel like I haven’t hit a three in a very long time. The one thing I focused on today was, getting (the ball) higher than I usually do because when I do miss I have a very flat shot,” Manz said.
Manz’s performance shows exactly why Quinnipiac is a tough matchup for so many teams and that is because there is a different player stepping up every game.
Manz and her teammates will travel out to Stockton, California for their game against the number one seeded South Carolina Gamecocks. The game can be seen on ESPN and tipoff is set for 4 p.m. EST.
