After playing a tough out-of-conference schedule to begin the season 0-5, the women’s basketball team seems to have hit its stride, winning its second consecutive game Saturday afternoon.
Quinnipiac beat Wagner 85-72 in both teams’ conference opener at the TD Bank Sports Center.
The Bobcats (2-5, 1-0 NEC) scored a season-high 85 points, 53 in the first half, and had four players score in double figures.
Sophomore guard Felicia Barron led the way with 14 points and eight assists. Sophomore forward Shelby Sferra, senior forward Alyssa Jann and freshman forward Brittany McQuain added 12, 11 and 10 points respectively.
“We are a transition team,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “You saw us at our best running and playing transition basketball. We put 53 up [in the first half] and you saw exactly the team we want to be for 20 minutes, and we gotta extend that to 40 minutes.”
The Bobcats opened up their biggest lead of the game, 50-24, on Alyssa Jann’s three-pointer with 1:53 left in the first half.
“The first two games we played we really were a very green team, a new team,” Fabbri said. “Then we went on the road and saw an Atlantic-10 team, a nationally ranked team and a Pac-10 team and we really fought and battled to get better. And then this week we saw the results of us playing against some great non-conference competition.”
Wagner (3-3, 0-1 NEC) went on a big run to start the second half and a 53-31 halftime lead was quickly cut to a 63-51 lead with 11:17 remaining. But the Seahawks wouldn’t get any closer.
Wagner senior Ashley Olson led all players with 18 points and nine rebounds. The forward also added five assists and two steals.
The Bobcats shot 46.6 percent from the field, while holding Wagner to only 37.5 percent shooting.
The Bobcats also shot a season high 83.3 percent (25-for-30) from the free throw line. In their previous six games, the Bobcats had only shot 64 percent from the line as a team.
“Eighty-three percent, I’ll take that,” Fabbri said. “I’ll sign up for anything over 80 percent. I’m really pleased with how we came out ready to play today against a very good Wagner team who’s off to their best start ever in school history.”
