Defense was key for the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team, as the Bobcats (5-3 overall, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) dominated the Providence College Friars (6-4 overall, 0-0 Big East) Wednesday night, by a score of 62-36. It was the Bobcats fifth win in a row, after losing the first three games of the season.
Junior Paula Strautmane led the way for the Bobcats with 15 points, five assists and five steals, along with sophomore Taylor Herd, who registered 10 points, tying her career-high.
“[Strautmane] has been really consistent for us,” coach Tricia Fabbri said. “I’d say especially in these last four games, on both ends on the court. And consistent in terms of mentally making the right play, in terms of rebounding, scoring, and screens. She’s in the right spots, making the right plays.”
The Friars scored the first basket of the game, but after Quinnipiac tied it at two and then took the lead on a Herd three pointer, the Bobcats never trailed again. They took a 34-18 lead into the half, led by Herd and Strautmane’s eight points each. The Friars struggled to score, shooting 9-for-31 total and 0-for-9 from three-pointers, including Maddie Jolin’s 0-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
In the second half, it seemed as though the Friars were persistent on sticking to their game plan of going for three pointers. However, the target shifted from Jolin to Jovana Nogic, who was a bit more successful, shooting 2-for-9 for threes. In the end, the lack of success from not only the three-point line (2-for-18), but from all over the court resulted in a dismal 17-for-53 from the field. Ny-Asia Franklin and Andrea Cooper seemed to be the only ones getting anything going, as they shoot 7-9 for 14 and 4-5 for eight respectively. The 22 turnovers Providence had and the 17 takeaways the Bobcats had certainly did not help the Friars.
“An incredible defensive performance,” Fabbri said. “Coach [Mountain] MacGillivray did a great job of scouting. The players executed it to perfection against a team that came in 6-3 and undefeated on the road, and having a lot of success in running their offense. So I was very pleased what we were able to do defensively and that got us going on the offensive end.”
The success of the defense certainly came along the glass, as the Bobcats won the rebounding game 42-37. But it was junior Jen Fay who really dominated, to the tune of 13 defensive rebounds and 15 total.
“The rebounding from Fay has been incredible,” Fabbri said. “It’s been a little bit surprising, but it’s really been a number of games that she’s been putting up huge defensive rebound numbers for us.”
Quinnipiac’s play had to come with the absence of senior Sarah Shewan, coming off of her MAAC Player of the Week performances, and sophomore Vanessa Udoji, as both were out with leg injuries. However, it did not seem to cause too much of a problem for the team.
“We’re pretty deep as a team,” Fay said. “So everyone just knows that they need to step up and play for [Udoji and Shwean]. Everyone is ready and prepared to step up when they need to.”
Up next for the team, the Bobcats will put their five-game winning streak on the line against the Princeton Tigers on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Hamden.
