The Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s basketball team hosted the Hartford Hawks Monday night at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Connecticut. The Bobcats secured their second win at home and their second win in a row.

The Hawks started out the first quarter strong, scoring their first basket within seconds of the start of the game; however, their energy did not last very long. The Bobcats were able to make several long twos at the start and a three-pointer from redshirt first year Rose Caso halfway through the first quarter.

The energy from the Hawks comes mostly on their offensive rebounding. They are very aggressive on the offensive board; however, they are rarely able to finish. Quinnipiac had several opportunities throughout the first quarter to make three-point conversions and it did just that. 

Although the Hawks took more three-pointers than the Bobcats throughout the first quarter, they were unable to finish any. Their shooting percentage was only 17.6% while the Bobcats was 51.8% at the end of the first quarter, which gave them the upper hand going into the second.

We continued to see very little energy from Hartford in the second quarter. To start off the second quarter, the Bobcats went on an 8-0 run just a minute and a half into the game. The Hawks continued to be aggressive on the offensive board, but Quinnipiac started to match them. 

Graduate student Mary Baskerville was dominant on the offensive end. She led the Bobcats in scoring in the first and second quarters, as well as grabbed offensive rebounds and finished by making several baskets.

“Mary is just a really different dimension for us,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “She’s just gifted athletically and basketball-wise. I like her athleticism and what she can bring is just a completely different dimension to our basketball team.”

Not only does the coach see the potential and athleticism in Mary, but her teammates do as well.

“She’s such a pleasure to be around every day,” sophomore Jackie Grisdale said. “I look forward to practicing with her. She’s a great person and an even better player. There’s no words to describe how happy I am that she’s on our side of the floor every game.”

Many threes were taken by both teams in the first half; however, it was Quinnipiac that had the leverage on Hartford. The Bobcats shot55.6% from the three-point line while the Hawks were only 0.09% successful. Quinnipiac led Hartford 51-15 at the end of the first half.

The third quarter started out slowly with the Hawks only scoring two points and the Bobcats only scoring eight points halfway through the quarter. Senior Cur’Tiera Haywood started out the half with a dish from Grisdale.

The Bobcats dominated the third quarter [23 points], scoring nearly four times as much as the Hawks [six points].

“Coach always says to just push the ball,” Caso said. “If you have the shot, take it, feel confident taking that shot, and I think everybody does that, and I think the energy just transfers [to everyone on the team].”

Much like the previous three quarters, the fourth quarter was one led by the Bobcats. Although it was a low-scoring quarter, the Bobcats were able to lead the Hawks in blocks and breakaways. 

Hartford was tough and took four charges in the second half, causing Quinnipiac to commit four offensive fouls. The final score of this matchup was 85-30 with the Bobcats securing their second win of the season.

The Bobcats made history in Hamden tonight, beating Hartford by 55 points. The previous record held was 49 points, which was recorded last season against the same team.

The Bobcats will travel to the University of Indiana to take on the No. 11 ranked team in the country on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 1 p.m., looking to continue their winning streak and take down this dominant team.

“We can’t wait,” Grisdale said. “This is our second chance at them and I know that we’re going to take this week to prepare as well as we can and come out guns firing.”