STANFORD, Calif. — For the first time in eight years, Quinnipiac women’s basketball has won a postseason game, taking down the George Mason Patriots 71-64 Thursday night in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
As a reward for their win, the Bobcats will travel over 3,000 miles across the country to Northern California to take on the Stanford Cardinal, with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line.
Let’s break down how this matchup will look come Sunday afternoon.
Despite its 8-10 record in the ACC, Stanford has no shortage of playmakers on both sides of the court. On offense, the Cardinal have five players with a points per game average in the double digits. That same group has all recorded over 300 points this season.
Leading the way is junior forward Sunaja “Nunu” Agara. The Minneapolis native has been nothing short of dominant in all 27 appearances this season, recording 27 points in their first round matchup versus Loyola Marymount.
The Cardinal also has been phenomenal from beyond the arch. In particular, junior forward Courtney Agden has had a career year from range, shooting a career best 38% from range in her first season as a starter.
Make no mistake, it’s going to be a tall order for Quinnipiac to defend a starting lineup of lethal attackers. But this Bobcat defense has been phenomenal. To put that into perspective, the Bobcats currently rank No. 4 in the country in scoring defense. Not in their conference, although they lead the MAAC in that stat too, but in the entire country.
This defense has held double-digit point scorers to single digits and has effectively taken teams’ most impactful players out of the game. If anyone can stop this Stanford offense, it’s going to be Quinnipiac.
Keys to the game: Stanford
If Stanford is going to move on, its key to defeating Quinnipiac is simple. It needs to stop the three-point shot.
When you look at each of the Bobcats’ six losses, the team shot under 35% from range in four of them and under 25% in three of them. When you stop the three, you beat Quinnipiac. Plain and simple.
However, Quinnipiac has no shortage of lethal longball shooters. Four Bobcats have an overall three-point shooting percentage above 35%, with freshman guard Ella Ryan leading the team at 41%.
The good news for Stanford? They’ve had great three point defense all season. The Cardinals rank second in the ACC in opponent three point percentage with 28%, holding their opponents to an average of 5.5 made threes per game.
On offense, the Cardinals will need to dominate in the post. As a team that shoots from inside the key more than they do beyond the arch, working the post will be crucial to their success on offense.
Keys to victory: Quinnipiac
The last six games of the season have been a rocky stretch for Quinnipiac. With junior guard Paige Girardi going down with an injury against the Niagara Purple Eagles Feb. 26, going to war with the Iona Gaels in the MAAC Semifinals and now facing Stanford in round two of the WBIT, the Bobcats have faced their fair share of adversity.
The Bobcats have gotten here by playing a full 40 minutes of basketball. And that’s exactly what they’ll have to do to beat Stanford.
Consistency has been a killer for this team in each of its losses. They hold leads and sooner rather than later, they drop them and, in turn, drop the game. Time after time, it continues to be the kryptonite of the Bobcats and they simply cannot afford to do so against Stanford.
Tip-off from Maples Pavilion is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.
