After a slow start, The Quinnipiac women’s basketball team came back for a dominating victory, 67-44, over the St. Peter’s Peacocks on senior day. The Bobcats shot 56 percent from the field in the second half to rally back from a seven-point halftime deficit.
Prior to the game Quinnipiac honored its three seniors, Brittany McQuain, Ellen Cannon and Camryn Warner. The three players make up one of the most successful senior classes in the program’s history with over 80 wins, two postseason appearances, and an NEC championship under their belts.
After the ceremony through, the two teams took the court and neither team could get anything going offensively. The first points of the game were not scored until Warner’s free throw nearly five minutes into the contest. The Bobcats took an early lead despite shooting under 25 percent from the field; however, St. Peter’s would end the half on a 12-0 run to enter the break with a 28-21 lead.
St. Peter’s would not hang around much longer as Quinnipiac came out of halftime on fire. The Bobcats held St. Peter’s to just 21 percent from the field in the second half; meanwhile, It seemed like every shot was falling for Quinnipiac as they shot close 66 percent through most of the second half before finishing with 56 percent.
When it was all said and done, Quinnipiac coasted to a 23-point victory, outscoring St. Peters by 30 in the second half. Samantha Guastella and Jasmine Martin led the way with 13 points each, while McQuain nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Gillian Abshire chipped in a game-high nine assists along with 4 points on the day.
Starting slow is nothing new for Quinnipiac. In fact slow starts and hot finishes have been the norm for the Bobcats this season. Quinnipiac has trailed at half time in five of their last six games, and in those games the Bobcats are 4-1, often times winning by large margins.
“That seems to be a little bit of our MO, how we are playing games these days, really slow in the first half, much better offensively in the second half,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “We were missing a lot and we weren’t getting any offensive rebounds. The ball is gonna go in the basket. You gotta believe it and if it doesn’t we have to do a better job on the boards.”
Quinnipiac’s furious second half comeback saved the Bobcat’s from the disappointment of losing on senior day. Brittany McQuain was one who was extra appreciative that her team could pull out a victory.
“We expect to win every night but, especially on senior day, you don’t want to go out with a loss. So it was a really nice way to go out,” McQuain said. “I think we all played really well as a team especially on defense tonight.”
The Bobcats take the court at the TD Bank Sports Center for the final time this season on Thursday, when they will play the MAAC leading Iona Gales.
