HAMDEN — In a season expected to be filled with wins, Quinnipiac women’s basketball impressed with its 62-45 exhibition victory against Southern Connecticut on Saturday.
Quinnipiac got off to a hot start, with. senior guard Jackie Grisdale scoring the first eight points. Ball movement was a key factor for the first few buckets.
Despite being an exhibition game, both teams played a physical brand of basketball. Almost every other possession, someone hit the floor. At one point, Owls graduate student forward Kate Williamson had to be substituted out of the game after hitting the ground hard.
The Bobcats’ offense featured a fast-paced system that saw Quinnipiac attempt to gain advantage on transition points. This philosophy was most evident during the final minute of the first quarter. Following a missed shot by the Owls, head coach Tricia Fabbri could be heard from the other side of the court telling her players to pick up the pace.
“Run, run,” Fabbri said as the Bobcats attempted to set up a three point attempt during the closing seconds of the quarter.
Despite the increased tempo, there seemed to be no emphasis on rebounding during the opening stages of the game. The Bobcats lack of attention on the glass resulted in a brutal slugfest.
“The rebounding was a whole lot,” Fabbri said. “We need to capitalize on it, just play every possession harder, tougher, together with the unit that’s out there, and make that change.”
Despite a strong opening, Quinnipiac proceeded to give up several open looks on defense, and the Owls capitalized. Whether it was a lack of chemistry together or simply rust, the Bobcats were not playing to their potential in the first half.
Through one-and-a-half quarters, the score became deadlocked at 15. But the pendulum began to swing in favor of the Bobcats, the team seemingly solved their lack of production on the boards. By the end of the second quarter, Quinnipiac secured a 27-20 lead.
After halftime, it didn’t look back.
Led by starting freshman point guard Gal Raviv, the Bobcats continued to run up the numbers in their fast-paced offense. All while maintaining the aggressive nature that helped the team grab the lead during the first half.
Raviv, who averaged nearly five assists during her time with the Israeli National Team over the summer, helped elevate the Bobcats’ offense in the second half. The floor general made the difficult passes look easy as she dished out dimes that propelled Quinnipiac to a lead it never let go of.
“When she plays downhill, she’s kind of tough to stop,” Fabbri said. “But I loved every shot she was taking because it was dictating the offense. She’s really that good with a great IQ and that talent to dictate for us what we’re going to do on offense.”
Quinnipiac will look to bring the momentum into future matchups as the Bobcats tip-off the season on Nov. 4, in Worcester, Massachusetts to take on Holy Cross at 6 p.m.
