For the second game in a row, the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team built a double-digit lead, just for it all to come crashing down in crunch time. The Bobcats led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before the Purple Eagles came storming back to force overtime and eventually win the game.
Freshman guard Ava Sollenne turned in the best game of her young career Saturday afternoon. The Connecticut native torched the Purple Eagles for 30 points on 10-14 shooting, including six made threes.
Turnover woes plagued the visitors all afternoon. The full-court trap gave Quinnipiac problems starting from the opening tip, as the Bobcats turned the ball over five times in the first five minutes. However, Quinnipiac’s defense matched the challenge, holding Niagara to just 3-18 shooting in the first frame.
When the Bobcats were able to break the press, they found themselves in odd-man opportunities, which they capitalized on to take an 11-3 lead midway through the opening quarter. The experienced Purple Eagle backcourt began to prey on the freshmen Quinnipiac defense. Five additional turnovers helped the hosts climb back into the game, taking a 15-13 lead late in the quarter.
The Bobcats were bailed out at the buzzer when freshman guard Maria Kealy was fouled shooting a half-courter. Kealy was able to knock down 2-3 free throws to tie the game at 15 after one.
To match the hosts, Quinnipiac employed a more physical style of defense. The Bobcats finished the game with 31 personal fouls and six different players with at least four fouls. In the second quarter, the Bobcats opened with a 6-1 run to grab a 21-16 lead, mostly due to their ability to play defense without sending Niagara to the free throw line, where the Purple Eagles scored eight of their 15 first-quarter points.
Quinnipiac did a better job in the second frame of reading the press, turning the ball over just three times. With both fouls and turnovers down, the Bobcats were able to bring the lead up to nine at halftime.
However, that success didn’t translate into the beginning of the third quarter. Sollenne hit a three to open the quarter, but the Purple Eagles forced five turnovers in the first five minutes to cut the lead down to six.
The two sides went back and forth trading buckets for the remainder of the quarter. Sophomore forward Bri Bowen was key on the defensive end, while also scoring a season-high 11 points.
Niagara was able to trim the lead down to just two after three quarters, but two triples from Sollenne, as well as threes from Bowen and freshman guard Karson Martin to open the fourth helped the Bobcat advantage balloon back up to double-digits.
Sollenne just kept going on the offensive end. A huge offensive rebound followed by a putback layup brought her point total up to 25 and maintained the 11-point Bobcat lead.
With the lead at eight with just under four minutes left, it looked like Quinnipiac was going to be able to hold on for a victory, but Niagara dug in and turned the whole game around.
Poor offensive possessions, coupled with some magic from senior guard Angel Parker, brought the Purple Eagles back to life. Parker got an easy layup on the other end off a missed layup by Martin, then stripped freshman forward Anna Foley to get another layup erasing the lead and tying the game at 71.
Neither team was able to score in the final 30 seconds of regulation, taking the game to overtime.
Sollenne scored first, her 30th point of the game, but from there on it was all Niagara. The hosts outscored Quinnipiac 15-7 in overtime to finish off the comeback effort.
The 86-78 loss dropped the Bobcats to 7-9 overall and 4-3 in the MAAC. Quinnipiac will be back in action on Jan. 25 when it hosts Fairfield, who has lost just one game all season. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
