Up 15 points entering the second half of Thursday’s game against Canisius, Quinnipiac women’s basketball looked poised to secure its 21st straight win over the Golden Griffins, but a vast momentum shift over the final 20 minutes that the Bobcats could not contain led Canisius to a historic 69-58 win.
Everything went the Bobcats’ way in the first quarter. Quinnipiac was dialed in on the defensive end, holding the Golden Griffins to 0-13 from the field, allowing the visitors to jump out to a quick 13-4 lead.
Freshman guard Karson Martin got the offense flowing early, scoring five of Quinnipiac’s first seven points.
The hosts were able to stay relatively close to Quinnipiac, forcing seven turnovers in the first ten minutes. Once Canisius’ offense woke up, the hosts sprinted to a 10-2 run to get the game back within single digits.
Quinnipiac’s turnovers continued to pile on in the first half, racking up ten by the time the half was over. However, the Golden Griffins’ cold shooting, sitting at 5-27 from the field, helped the Bobcats dominate the first 20 minutes. Martin and freshman center Anna Foley were a perfect one-two punch, putting in 31 points, helping the visitors take a 37-22 advantage into the halftime locker room.
Once the two teams came back for the second half, all of the Bobcats’ momentum was gone. The hosts stormed out to a 10-2 run to cut the lead to ten. Another run, this time a 7-0 sprint, got the lead down to five and the home crowd was suddenly alive again.
Senior guard Mackenzie Amalia was the catalyst for the sudden momentum shift, stripping freshman guard Maria Kealy twice while bringing the ball up the floor and taking it the other way for easy buckets.
The Bobcats struck back, bringing the lead back to ten thanks to back-to-back clutch shots from the wing by junior forward Grace LaBarge.
However, Amalia wasn’t finished taking advantage of Quinnipiac’s inexperienced guards, forcing another turnover and converting an and-one on the other end to cut the lead down to just two. The Golden Griffins keyed on Martin in the third quarter, holding the Bobcats’ best player to zero points in the frame.
The once 17-point lead was officially erased in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, as Amalia knocked down a deep triple to give the hosts their only lead since the first minute.
The shots just kept falling for Canisius, an avalanche of buckets capped off a 23-5 run that spanned just over eight minutes, bringing the Bobcat deficit to seven.
Quinnipiac never got back in the game in the wake of that run as the Golden Griffins closed out the Bobcats for a 69-58 win.
Quinnipiac continues its road trip on Jan. 20, when it faces off with Niagara. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
