HAMDEN — Let Karson Martin cook. That was the recipe for success for Quinnipiac women’s basketball on Thursday, as the freshman guard’s 17-point outing helped the Bobcats beat Saint Peter’s 50-39.
“I love her moxie,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “She is a kid that wants the ball in her hands to go make a play. Absolutely fearless and relentless on both sides of the ball … Just her mindset and how she goes about playing the game is a separator for us right now. Moving into the starting role and then acting like she’s been there for three years, it’s impressive.”
In front of more than 2,500 fans, mostly elementary and middle school students who came to M&T Bank Arena to celebrate “kids day,” Martin set the tone early, scoring five of the hosts’ first seven points.
“One thing we’ve tried to work on this year is energy,” Martin said. “Whenever we have a chance to have that many fans, especially kids … it just really brings out the energy for all of us. They’re excited, we’re excited, and the game flows really easy after that.”
Once the two teams settled in, points were hard to come by. Martin hit another tough jumper to put the Bobcats up 11-6 at the end of the first frame. The two sides combined to shoot just 7-33 from the field in the opening quarter.
It didn’t get much better from there offensively. Midway through the quarter, a layup in traffic from sophomore forward Ella O’Donnell pushed Quinnipiac to a 13-9 advantage, while the visitors were held without a field goal for over five minutes.
Suddenly, the Peacocks woke up. A quick run, capped off by a wide open three from the top of the key by sophomore guard Reilly Sunday, gave the visitors a 16-15 lead, their first of the game.
The Saint Peter’s defense keyed in on Martin in the second quarter, holding the Georgia native scoreless in the frame as the teams headed into halftime knotted at 17.
Out of the locker room, Martin got going again. She scored four of Quinnipiac’s first seven points, including a heavily contested layup in transition before staring down the Peacocks defender who fell trying to stop her. The layup got the momentum swinging back in Quinnipiac’s direction, as the Bobcats held on to a slim 27-26 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth, the offense finally woke up. The Bobcats broke the Saint Peter’s zone by playing freshman center Anna Foley higher up, and using the Massachusetts native more as a ball-handler and passer. It worked, as Quinnipiac went on an 11-2 run to open the final quarter to give the hosts some breathing room.
“Saint Peter’s made us look deeper into our bag of tricks,” Fabbri said. “I think it was a real mental change for Anna … I saw a real growth in her mindset of ‘give me the ball, I’m going to go to the foul line’ to go get it, to make plays.”
On the defensive end, the Bobcats were unrelenting. A zone defense, which according to Fabbri was designed by assistant coach Jen Fay, forced 28 turnovers throughout the game.
“It was really effective in creating opportunities for us, not just to turn them over, but to then go down and find some scores or at least dominate the ball with possession,” Fabbri said.
One of the turnovers allowed junior guard Reiven Douglas to spring free, before getting fouled on her way to the basket. Douglas made both free throws, giving Quinnipiac a 41-28 lead, its largest of the game.
The visitors had it within six with just under two minutes to play, but the Bobcats were able to weather the storm to close out the Peacocks for a 50-39 victory.
“It was not pretty, we don’t expect it to be pretty,” Fabbri said. “I was really proud of our ladies for just staying together.”
The victory moves the Bobcats to 5-6 overall and 2-0 in MAAC play. Quinnipiac continues conference play on Jan. 6 when it hosts Manhattan at 1 p.m.
