ATLANTIC CITY N.J. — We’ve been here before.
Quinnipiac women’s basketball versus the Fairfield Stags for the biggest prize in its conference, the MAAC Championship. The rubber match of the 2025-26 campaign and a rematch of last year’s title game. In that contest, Fairfield came out victorious after splitting the season series at a game apiece.
And you know what they say about history repeating itself.
In identical fashion to its 2024-25 campaign and splitting the season series once again, Quinnipiac fell to Fairfield 51-44 in the MAAC Championships.
“This is a very challenging moment for a team that left everything they had out on the court,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “It stings.”
While the game did not go in favor of Fabbri’s squad, the first ten minutes showed several signs of life from Quinnipiac.
But the Bobcat offense, which has struggled the entire tournament, failed to show up.
“The rim did not like us today,” junior forward Anna Foley said.
The Bobcats had a historically bad night from the field. The first 10 minutes saw the Bobcats convert on two field goals, with those being a pair of three pointers from graduate student guard Jackie Grisdale and freshman guard Ella Ryan. That’s it.
While the offense failed to show up, the defense showed up in a big way. Against an offense with two players averaging over 15 points per game and the MAAC Player of the Year in junior guard Kaety L’Amoreaux, the Bobcats held the Stags to 10 points.
For a small portion of the second frame, it felt like the Bobcats might overcome their goliath and take down the Stags. A layup from senior forward Ella O’Donnell even put the Bobcats in front for the first and only time in the game.
But then the Stags came storming back.
Junior guard Jillian Huerter, who hit five longballs in Fairfield’s semifinal win over the Merrimack Warriors, drilled a pair of threes with junior road runner Megan Andersen putting down yet another three, giving Fairfield a 10 point lead by the media timeout of the second quarter.
Even while down by double digits, Quinnipiac kept believing and kept fighting, reducing the lead to six by halftime.
Despite the Bobcats holding momentum, their offense continued to unravel from the second the clock ran in the second half.
The third quarter saw turnover after turnover and missed field goal after missed field goal for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats turned the ball over eight times in the third, due in part to the pressure of Stags graduate student guard Janelle Brown.
“She’s really tough to bring the ball up against,” Fabbri said. “She’s just so fearless and has a motor that’s second to none.”
Not only did the Bobcats struggle to hold onto the ball, but they struggled shooting it. The second quarter saw only four converted field goals and one converted three pointer for Quinnipiac. Another uncharacteristically bad quarter on offense.
Then, the fourth quarter came. 10 minutes, for the rest of the season. For a majority of those 10 minutes, the Bobcat attack fought like hell to keep them within striking distance of taking the lead back.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the Stags had answers for nearly everything the Bobcats threw at them.
Quinnipiac would get a crucial bucket on one end of the court, Fairfield would hit a huge shot on the other end seconds later. The Bobcats would grit their way to the basket and Fairfield would respond with a make of its own. Each time it happens, bleeding more and more clock in the process.
Their final push in the final four and a half minutes of the game. A pair of scores from Ryan and Foley brought the game within seven, only for Huerter to drill another three and bring the Stags lead back to double digits.
Quinnipiac kept fighting, as Foley netted a pair of jumpers and her third three pointer of the season to bring the game within five. A Grisdale layup brought the game within three.
With 23 seconds remaining, senior guard Sydney Ryan broke off a screen, received an open pass from junior guard Karson Martin and put up what would be the game tying shot. The ball would fly through the air, hit the rim and bounce into the hands of Brown.
“I said a lot of little prayers as that ball was in the air,” Fabbri said.
From there, Fairfield would take a few trips to the line to ice the game and seal its third straight MAAC Championship.
It’s a bitter end to the careers of the graduating Bobcat seniors. In particular, Grisdale leaves behind a storied legacy in Hamden.
“I’m so thankful for every single moment that I’ve spent here,” Grisdale said. “I didn’t know where I was going to end up when I was a senior in high school, but I couldn’t have asked for a better path than this.”
Fabbri further emphasized what this class means to her on a personal level.
“It’s the reason why you still coach,” Fabbri said. “They make me feel alive, they give me great purpose.”
Quinnipiac’s women’s basketball program is at a turning point. One of the most impactful senior classes it’s ever had is departing, leaving the way for more opportunities for new leaders to emerge.
But for now, the team is looking back on yet another bitter ending to yet another great year, wondering once again about what could’ve been.
