HAMDEN — The Quinnipiac women’s basketball team couldn’t get much done offensively in a tough matchup against the Canisius Golden Griffins Saturday afternoon, losing 69-53 in front of a home crowd on senior day.
“Just disappointed, (I was) praising them the other day and today was super flat, nothing in the tank,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “We tried to claw our way back into it in the second half and compete, but that was a really tough two quarters.”
The Bobcats struggled heavily on the defensive glass and couldn’t string together buckets offensively — not exactly a recipe for success. The hosts shot a lowly 32% from the field to go along with the Griffs grabbing 41 rebounds, 32 defensive.
The game started with a wide open three from Canisius senior guard Mackenzie Amalia, setting the tone for the rest of the game. The Griffs only propelled upward from that point on, and Quinnipiac couldn’t find any defensive answers.
Canisius went on an 8-0 run early in the first quarter, as none of the Bobcats’ shots were falling. Add in a few makes beyond the arc and it looked to be a long day for the Bobcats.
In the second quarter, junior forward Grace LaBarge cut the deficit to just three after a made triple. In addition, freshman forward Anna Foley was a bright spot in an otherwise dark day for the Bobcats.
“It was a bit of a slow start for (Foley), she did everything she could control coming out of the locker room,” Fabbri said. “She was really fantastic.”
In the second half, the Canisius lead had grown to 16, and the halftime locker room speech didn’t seem to spark anything into Quinnipiac. The Bobcats again struggled to find the basket despite an early bucket from LaBarge. Six straight misses from the offense had Fabbri desperate for a bucket.
One finally fell from freshman guard Karson Martin to cut the lead down to 15 with six minutes to play in the third frame.
In the final quarter, Canisius started out with a three-point shot from junior guard Athina Lexa to bring the lead to its largest of the contest, 22, and put the nail in Quinnipiac’s coffin.
On a positive note, three Quinnipiac seniors were honored for their hard work and dedication to the team. Fabbri recognized guards Jillian Casey and Reiven Douglas, as well as forward Tierra White during pregame.
“The talent on that court is crazy,” Douglas said of her teammates. “I know we’re not pulling it out right now, but the things that they’re doing, it’s beautiful.”
Quinnipiac will have four days off until it heads into a matchup against conference juggernaut Fairfield, which clinched the MAAC’s No. 1 seed heading into the tournament. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Feb. 28.
