HAMDEN — Quinnipiac held its own in a 58-53 loss Friday night against a tough Vermont women’s basketball team — who were the America East regular and postseason champions last year.
Vermont graduate student guard Emma Utterback led both teams in scoring, dropping 22 points on the Bobcats. She used her quickness and ability to make the defense adjust to score her points.
“There’s no doubt she’s a great player,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said.
For the Bobcats, freshmen Karson Martin and Anna Foley shined, finishing tied for the team lead in points with junior guard Jackie Grisdale with 12.
Foley went toe-to-toe with Catamounts graduate student and senior forwards Delaney Richason and Anna Olson.
“It was a good fight,” Foley said.
The Bobcats felt the impact of Foley, Martin and freshman guard Paige Girardi throughout the game.
“Anna Foley is playing like a seasoned vet, Paige Girardi is playing like a seasoned vet and I think Karson Martin is playing like a seasoned vet,” Fabbri said.
To end the first quarter, Foley used every centimeter of her 6-foot-3-inch frame to deflect the ball from the Catamounts and into Bobcat possession. To start the second, she pulled up at the free-throw line for an easy two, inching the Bobcats within two points of the lead.
The Andover, Massachusetts, native made mistakes and lost battles, like giving up a three-point play to Olson in the third quarter. But she rebounded, knocking down a bucket in the mid-post for two.
Martin was nothing short of a monster — both in energy and in skill — off the bench. She utilized her quickness and basketball IQ to cut to the paint from a Foley feed and get the Bobcats an easy two in the second quarter.
Martin had six points coming off the bench in the first half.
“It’s really exciting, being able to have that role and the fact that the coaches trust me to go in there and do what I need to do,” Martin said.
Foley and Martin were responsible for seven of Quinnipiac’s nine third-quarter points, knocking down jumpers and driving the offense.
Despite keeping it loose in the fourth quarter — Martin was dancing and bobbing her head to “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell before an inbound play — it wasn’t enough.
Following some Vermont offense and a Foley block on Catamount sophomore guard Andjela Matic, Martin scurried back and layed the ball up for two to bring the game back within eight, 54-46 Vermont.
Despite her solid performance, Martin made a game-changing mistake. She missed a wide-open layup allowing Olson — who only shot one three throughout the whole contest — to bury said three, killing the Bobcats’ momentum.
“It was a five-point swing, (Vermont) go 45-40, that really hurt us,” Fabbri said.
Quinnipiac’s final points on the day was a two-point jumper from Foley, but it wasn’t enough. Vermont topped Quinnipiac 58-53.
The strengths and weaknesses of this young Bobcats team were still on full display. It was in mid-season form at moments throughout this contest — especially in the second quarter — but basic errors still held it back from the win.
It struggled on defense and at the charity stripe, going three for 10.
“We have the ability to go 10 for 10,” Grisdale said.
Fabbri emphasized during the preseason that getting this team ready for conference play was going to be a process. They have to crawl, then walk, then jog, then run and finally sprint. Following the game, she knows Quinnipiac is just beginning to get on its feet.
“We’re trying to get up off our knees,” Fabbri said.
The Bobcats will now travel down to Annapolis, Maryland, for the Navy Classic where they play Navy on Saturday at 1 p.m., then Towson the next day at 3:30 p.m.
