HAMDEN — Quinnipiac women’s basketball played in one of its most down-the-wire matchups of the season against Siena Saturday afternoon, pulling off the 77-74 win, but not without heavy resistance.
“It was a pretty good game until the very end,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “Some mistakes that kept it a little interesting but I like what we were able to do today on both sides of the ball.”
Siena relied on scoring in the paint to put points on the board. And despite all players on the roster being listed as guards, the Saints’ physicality in the paint is what generated buckets.
While Siena operated on a post-centered offense, Quinnipiac focused more on spacing and finding open shots in the mid-range game, or beyond the arc.
In the first quarter, Siena used length in an attempt to stop freshman point guard Gal Raviv from scoring, often putting players six feet or taller on the ball-dominant guard. It worked, in the first quarter. Raviv finished the first half with 16 points, 14 coming in the second quarter and concluded the game with a career-high 32 points.
Raviv’s offensive explosion helped make the matchup a back-and-forth contest, with 16 lead changes in the first half.
One of the reasons the game was so tightly contested was the lack of second chance points from Siena as it was only able to grab two offensive rebounds.
“A big key was keeping them off the glass,” Fabbri said. “That’s not easy to do against a pretty ferocious and talented Siena team.”
Quinnipiac began to put together a lead during the final stages of the first half. With 52 seconds left, a layup by sophomore center Anna Foley put the team up by eight points.
But just as the Bobcats began to grab the lead, Siena pulled away any momentum Quinnipiac possessed on the final play. With under five seconds left on the clock, freshman guard Myriam Traore pulled up from Siena’s side of the court and swished a buzzer-beater to cut Quinnipiac’s lead to just four points.
As the third quarter progressed, it seemed like the back-and-forth nature of the game would continue. But Siena committed two fouls against Foley, putting her at the line to knock down four free throws to bring the Bobcats lead up to eight points.
The duel between Raviv and Siena graduate student guard Anhiysha Jackson lasted all game and well into the fourth quarter. The two guards combined for 54 points with each team’s offense flowing through them. Raviv 32 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
“I’m just trying to read the defense and take what they’re giving me,” Raviv said.
When asked what Siena was throwing Raviv’s way defensively, Foley chimed in.
“Everything.”
As the Bobcats head into the second half of the season, they’ll need everything at their disposal as the race for first in the MAAC begins to tighten.
Quinnipiac will travel to Buffalo, New York Jan. 30 to take on Canisius. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
