In a season filled with expectation, a slew of injuries plagued women’s basketball and forced them into a rebuilding year — with a predominantly freshman class.
Quinnipiac went 13-18 in 2023-24 and managed a win in the MAAC tournament against Saint Peter’s. The newcomers, while not unblemished, showed promise in Atlantic City for the upcoming year.
The crown jewel of the new class was sophomore center Anna Foley. The Andover, Massachusetts native led the team in points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks en route to a unanimous selection to the MAAC All-Rookie Team and All-MAAC Second Team nomination.
Foley was also named to the 2024-25 All-MAAC Preseason Second Team, the only underclassman in the conference to receive that recognition.
“Playing that much as a freshman was certainly a great opportunity. We had a very young team, so we got more experience than a lot of other teams,” Foley said. “This year, we’re being treated as upperclassmen, since we just had so much experience.”
Additional standouts from that class include sophomore guards Karson Martin and Ava Sollene. Martin averaged 11.9 points per game while only trailing Foley in terms of minutes played, joining Foley with a MAAC-All Rookie selection. Sollenne spent the season as the Bobcats’ primary threat from behind the arc, leading the squad with 48 three-pointers made while shooting 38.7% on her attempts.
The most anticipated return for Quinnipiac is senior guard Jackie Grisdale. Last year, the captain played in only eight games before missing the remainder of the season with a lower-body injury. In her shortened season, she led the team with 14.1 points per game and shot 45.9% from three.
Quinnipiac also retained much of its impact players for the 2024-25 campaign. The entire notion of the prior season was to build and now, the Bobcats bring 89.6% of their total minutes from last year into the upcoming season, which also accounts for 94.6% of the points they scored.
At the MAAC Tip-off show on Oct. 8, head coach Tricia Fabbri remarked that this year’s team has “incredible amounts of characters.”
“I think we learned so much last year, through seeing adversity and failure,” Fabbri said. “What I’ve seen this year is just another team that is a year older.”
Quinnipiac was tabbed in a tie for third place in the MAAC Preseason Coach’s Poll. The impromptu rebuilding year is in the past, and the Bobcats are able-bodied enough to make a real run in the conference.
An exhibition matchup with Southern Connecticut State University on Oct. 26 will be the first contest of the season.
The interstate meeting with the Owls won’t be the only one for Quinnipiac. Fairfield has of course been a consistent conference matchup, and the Bobcats have played Yale four times since 2019. This year, however, Sacred Heart finds itself on the Bobcats’ schedule for the first time since 2013 after transitioning to the MAAC at the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
“Connecticut and basketball are synonymous with greatness, and now we’re just building these better rivalries,” Fabbri said. “(I’m) excited to have Sacred Heart come in and join us and I think it’s going to be a great … rivalry for many seasons to come.”
After the Owls, the season truly kicks off on Nov. 4 when the Bobcats travel to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on Holy Cross. MAAC play is slated for Dec. 19 when the Rider Broncos visit M&T Bank Arena.
Quinnipiac’s path back to Atlantic City will not come without turbulence, but it has depth among a young program that makes it unique. These players are conditioned for adversity. Imagine what it can achieve with a healthy bench.
“We’re going to bounce back from that and kind of get the program back to the level of excellence it’s usually had,” Foley said.
