After taking a six-point lead into the locker room, the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team started the second half on an 11-0 run to bury the LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds. Brittany McQuain picked up her second double-double of the season behind a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds to help seal a 67-60 win.

Gillian Abshire opened the second half with a layup followed by a McQuain layup and then one for Jasmine Martin. Samantha Guastella hit a layup of her own before Martin drained a 3-pointer to force LIU-Brooklyn to call a timeout with the game at 41-24.
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The Blackbirds, led by Tamika Guz, then went on an 9-0 run of their own to make it a nine point game. Guz picked up a double-double in the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Honor Duvall was also a force downlow putting in 12 points of her own along with four rebounds, three coming on the offensive end.

“They’re strong,” McQuain said. “I’ve got to give it to them. They’re some of the strongest post players that I have ever played against. They did a good job fighting and getting position on the block but I think our post players did a good job too getting inside and getting points down low. But it was a battle for sure.”

Quinnipiac (10-2, 1-0 Northeast Conference) head coach Tricia Fabbri also commended the Blackbirds’ post players saying that they were talented, strong and physical.

The combo of Guz and Duvall helped LIU-Brooklyn to a 59-42 win in the rebounding column with 28 of those boards coming on the offensive end.

“That is one of our main focus on our entire season anyway, just rebounding,” McQuain added. “I think that we need to get in the right position. We work a lot in practice at just getting off the box and just working a little bit on that in practice will help.”

Sophomore guard Jasmine Martin only played nine minutes in the first half after picking up her second foul early. After being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, Martin exploded for 15 points in the second half on 6-of-9 shooting including 3-for-4 from behind the arc.

“I think Jazz is a phenomenal player,” McQuain said. “I think she has the ability to really shock people. Coach said something earlier this season that’s really funny. She said, ‘You know she’s not a secret anymore. People know that she is going to come out and have big games but what’s great about her is that she knows people know about her and that she is going to get pressured all game long but she can still make great plays down the road,’ and I think that’s what she did today.”

McQuain and Martin’s performances helped counter a poor shooting day from Bobcat leading scorer Felicia Barron. Barron was just 2-for-14 in the game including 1-for-8 from behind the arc.

“I think it shows that we can pick each other up,” Martin said. “We know we have to be there for each other even though she wasn’t having her best game. We are encouraging her, telling her to keep shooting and be aggressive. That’s why Sparks (McQuain) stepped up, I did my part and stepped up and everybody did their part, it was a great team effort.”

Quinnipiac’s point guards continued their great ball control and combined for seven assists and only one turnover.

The Bobcats return to action on Monday Jan. 7, when they host St. Francis (N.Y.) at 7 p.m.