Playing in their first game in a week, the Quinnipiac Bobcats women’s basketball team was able to come back and defeat the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers 49-45 on Sunday afternoon in Hamden, Connecticut.

In the first quarter, the Bobcats struggled to put points on the board. They shot just 2-15 as a team with both makes coming from three point land. Despite the slow start, graduate student guard Rose Caverly never lost hope in her teammates.

“We got all the shots we wanted to in the first half,” Caverly said. “We just couldn’t hit anything.”

The Bobcats found themselves down 12-7 after the first quarter. The Terriers extended their lead to 20-11 early in the second quarter and caused Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri to call timeout.

“Our coaches were just like, ‘We just gotta crank in on the defense and let that dictate our offense’ and that’s what we did,” Caverly said.

Whatever she said in that timeout worked, because from that point the Bobcats outscored the Terriers 38-25 and figured things out offensively.

In the scoring column, the Bobcats were led by senior forward Cur’Tiera Haywood, who had a team high 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Caverly and sophomore guard Jackie Grisdale joined her in double figures with 10 points each.

“CT has been just our most consistent player on both sides of the ball,” Fabbri said. “Playing through her in the post was very pivotal.”

On the defensive end, the Bobcats stepped it up in the fourth quarter by holding the Terriers to zero points until there was less than a minute left in the game. The defense was anchored by graduate student forward Mary Baskerville, who had five blocks in just nine minutes before exiting in the third quarter.

“Seven games in and we’re still working really diligently everyday on us becoming the best version of ourselves,” Fabbri said. “We’re starting to see it take some form, but we still have a long way to go.”

For the Terriers, freshman guard Tyra Myers scored a career high 18 points and led the team offensively. She was the only player in double figures for head coach Linda Cimino. 

Sophomore center Sarah Bandoma stuffed the stat sheet as well with 13 rebounds and four blocks. Bandoma made it difficult for the Bobcats to score inside.

“Their story is really unique,” Fabbri said. “They don’t have a facility right now. They’re finding different places to practice and they are absolute road warriors.”

First year forward Ella O’Donnell made her first career start for Fabbri, replacing sophomore guard Reiven Douglas in the lineup. O’Donnell was held scoreless in 17 minutes.

Up next for the Bobcats is another non-conference home matchup against local rival Yale on Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. in Hamden.