The No. 3 Quinnipiac women’s basketball team will take on Manhattan in a rematch of last year’s MAAC Tournament Semifinals, which saw the Bobcats be eliminated by the Jaspers 72-59.

During the regular season contests between the two teams, Quinnipiac beat Manhattan both times by more than 10 points. 

The Bobcats’ bigs dominated in both contests. Senior forward and All-MAAC Third Teamer Cur’Tiera Haywood registered 10 and 16 points, respectively in both contests, while graduate student forward and MAAC Sixth Person of the Year Mary Baskerville put up 17 off the bench. 

Baskerville and Haywood’s connection down low will get the Bobcats crucial buckets and help them succeed in the postseason. 

“I always took on that role of working how I do on the inside,” Baskerville said on March 4. “I felt out where she strived at and played off of her.”

Quinnipiac will potentially be without arguably its best big in senior forward Mikala Morris as she is still coming back from an ankle injury she suffered on Feb. 25 in a win at Siena. The All-MAAC Second Teamer averaged 10.1 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Who the Bobcats must control to win this game is Manhattan senior guard Dee Dee Davis. 

The Bronx native and two-time All-MAAC First Teamer is fourth in the conference in points per game and has a history of dominating the Bobcats. In the seven times she has played Quinnipiac, Davis averaged 18.6 points per game, highlighted by a dominant 33-point overtime performance on March 2, 2022.

The Jaspers also retained their leading scorer in last season’s postseason matchup in senior forward Brazil Harvey-Carr, who dropped 22 points in the contest. 

Manhattan nudged out a close one Tuesday afternoon when it beat No. 11 (and the winless) Saint Peter’s Peacocks 59-56. Graduate student forward Narrie Dodson led the team with 20 points.

What Quinnipiac needs to do to secure the win is to continue doing what it has been all year: playing stout defense. The Bobcats’ defense is second in the conference in average points per game allowed with 54.1. 

“Our defense sets that tone for us that we can hang in there when we don’t have that initial lead,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said on March 4. “We’re always going to give ourselves a great chance with the personnel we have.”

The winner of this contest will face No. 2 Niagara at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow for a chance to go to the MAAC Championship.