Quinnipiac took on Fairfield Friday afternoon and came out victorious, 67-55, in a back-and-forth affair.

Mackenzie DeWees, Mikala Morris, and Rose Caverly led the charge with 17, 19, and 18 points respectively.

It was a hard-fought victory for Quinnipiac as they had to take on Fairfield’s fierce 2-3 zone defense. Graduate forward Katie Armstrong led the defensive effort for the Stags with seven blocks.

In the first quarter, it was all Fairfield as the Stags’ defense was minimizing the Bobcats’ scoring opportunities.

Lou Lopez-Senechal and Armstrong were big dividends in the first quarter as Lopez-Senechal scored four points and Armstrong had three blocks.

Mikala Morris was the story for the Bobcats in the first quarter as she was able to come away with two steals. Fairfield was able to come away with an 18-12 lead at the end of the frame.

Heading into the second quarter, the defensive strategy was on point as points were very hard to come by. Despite this, Quinnipiac decided to take advantage of Fairfield trying to change defensively on the fly.

Mackenzie DeWees came away with three steals, one of which led to an easy layup on the other end, bringing the Bobcats within two.

As the second quarter came to a close, the Stags and Bobcats were knotted up at 25 apiece.

With momentum shifting near the end of the first half, Quinnipiac took the opportunity to keep it and ride with it in the third quarter. Quinnipiac scored the first five points of the quarter to grab its biggest lead of the game to that point.

Later in the quarter, defense wasn’t an option as both teams were trading buckets. Once the third quarter buzzer went off, the Bobcats saw themselves with a 44-37 lead.

In the final quarter, Quinnipiac was trying to shut the door on any chance for a Fairfield comeback. Rose Caverly started to get hot, scoring seven points in the quarter.

Meanwhile, Lopez-Senechal was not going to give up as she was able to finish with a game-high 20 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Bobcats held onto the lead and the win.

Practice pays off in much needed wins like this as Quinnipiac is not used to playing against such a tough zone defense such as Fairfield’s

“We spent the whole week working on zone,” Mackenzie DeWees said. “We didn’t even touch man.”

This win was very important in conference standings as it gives Quinnipiac a clear two seed right now in the MAAC tournament.

“It gives us a lot of confidence for today,” Tricia Fabbri said. “The bigger challenge for now is tomorrow.”

Fabbri believes that Fairfield will be hungry for a conference win tomorrow and she wants to prepare her squad for a tougher Stags team.

With the win the Bobcats improve to 10-5 (8-3 MAAC)) on the season and with the loss, Fairfield falls to 7-3 (6-2 MAAC). These two teams will meet again tomorrow for Quinnipiac’s Senior Night.