HAMDEN, Connecticut – History was made on Friday night as the Quinnipiac women's basketball team scored their first ever national postseason tournament victory in defeating Maine, 90-44, in the WNIT First Round at the TD Bank Sports Center.
With the Bobcats' victory and Temple defeating Drexel, 74-66, Quinnipiac will now host the Owls in the WNIT Second Round on Sunday, March 20 at 2 PM. Sunday's afternoon showdown will be a rematch as the Bobcats defeated the Owls, 58-56, back on Nov. 24 at the TD Bank Sports Center. They will also be meeting for the second time in the WNIT as Temple scored a 75-60 victory back in 2012.
In what can only be described as an absolute domination, the Bobcats (25-8) mauled a Maine (26-9) team that was ranked No. 14 in the national mid-major poll, came in having won 17 of their last 19 games and also already defeated Missouri State, LSU and Clemson earlier this season.
Hosting a national postseason game for just the second time ever, Quinnipiac improved to 1-3 all-time in the WNIT with the 46-point margin which goes down as the largest single-game victory in the Bobcats' Division I program history (since 1998-99). During the 2007-08 season, Quinnipiac defeated Brown (85-41) and Wagner (79-35) by 44-point margins which stood as the previous single-game record before tonight's 46-point drubbing.
Playing a key role in the onslaught for Quinnipiac was freshman
Paula Strautmane (Mucenieki, Latvia) who was perfect from the floor, going 10-of-10 for the game on her way to 21 points to go along with nine rebounds and three blocks in just 21 minutes of action. Appearing in her first career national postseason game, the bright lights and pressure proved to be an afterthought for the rookie as she set a single-game program record for the most made field goals in a game (10) without a miss. The previous record of 8-for-8 was shared by two Bobcats – Katie Caputi (Jan. 31, 2002) and Kim Misiaszek (Jan. 13, 2001).
A truly dynamic all-around effort, the Bobcats shot a season-high 60.3 percent (38-63 FG) from the floor and 47.8 percent (11-23 3FG) from three-point range while also reaching the 90-point milestone for the second time this season. In the last three seasons (since 2013-14), Quinnipiac has scored 90+ points seven times, in the previous 15 seasons the Bobcats scored 90+ points just three times since joining Div. I. The last time Quinnipiac shot better than 60.3 percent in a single-game came back on Jan. 14, 2012 in an 85-73 victory over St. Francis University that saw the Bobcats go 60.8 percent from the floor.
Needing to step into a larger role with
Maria Napolitano (Cincinnati, Ohio) sidelined with injury,
Adily Martucci (Waterford, Connecticut) broke out in a big way for the Bobcats finishing with 18 points while shooting 7-of-10 overall and 4-of-5 from three-point range. For Martucci, the 18-point effort is tied for her second-most points in her four-year career. In total, the tandem of Strautmane and Martucci finished 17-of-20 (85 percent) from the floor on the way to 39 combined points in the win.
Sarah Shewan (Russell, Ontario) came off the bench and dominated throughout with the best game of her young career, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds to notch her first career double-double in her 67
th career appearance. The sophomore dominated all evening going 7-of-13 overall with four assists, no turnovers and two blocks in 22 minutes.
Right from the jump, Quinnipiac's all-around intensity on both ends saw Maine and their third-ranked scoring defense in the nation (50 points allowed per game) on their heels throughout. The back-and-forth game flow everyone expected heading into the game lasted for all of 6:19 as the score saw Quinnipiac leading 11-10. Both sides had everything working offensively early as Maine hit their first two shots while Strautmane netted six of her points in the first six minutes.
After Maine's Sigi Koizar hit a layup at the 3:41 mark of the first quarter, Quinnipiac flipped a switch and played their best extended stretch of the season, outscoring Maine 34-2 over the next 13:01 to take a commanding 45-15 halftime advantage.
In that course of 13:01 of play, Maine went ice cold going 1-for-14 (7.1 percent) from the floor while committing 10 turnovers as the Bobcats held a Black Bear squad that came in shooting 43 percent on the season to their third-fewest points in 2015-16.
On the other end, Quinnipiac had everything working as they finished the first quarter with three straight three-pointers from Martucci (twice) and Strautmane. The tandem combined to score 17 of the first 19 Bobcat points on the evening.
In the second quarter, it was more of the game as Quinnipiac outscored Maine 26-5 while taking the commanding 30-point lead at the half.
Carly Fabbri (Stratford, Connecticut) connected on a three-pointer and Shewan hit a bucket underneath to cap off a 14-0 run before Maine finally broke their scoreless streak early in the second quarter.
Good looks kept coming for Quinnipiac in the second quarter as
Edel Thornton (Cork, Ireland) hit her first three-pointer since Dec. 6 against Manhattan to ignite was turned into 21-0 run for the Bobcats throughout the majority of the stanza. Martucci and Strautmane went to work once again as they combined to score the next 11 points before Thornton drained another triple to make it 41-12. For the game, Thornton tied her career-high with 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-3 3FG) while seeing her most minutes (14) in a game since she went down with a foot injury back on Dec. 9.
Fabbri and
Aryn McClure (Springfield Gardens, New York) capped the run with back-to-back layups as Maine finally broke their 7:58 scoreless streak with a three-pointers before the halftime buzzer.
Maine came out better in the third quarter, playing to an even score 18-18 throughout the 10-minute stanza but with the deficit still at 30 points with just 10 minutes to go, the final outcome was already well in-hand.
In the fourth quarter alone, Quinnipiac saw eight different players score while as a team the Bobcats shot a blistering 85.7 percent (12-14 FG) in the final 10 minutes of play. Shewan went for eight of her 15 points in the fourth while
Tiffany Webster (Washington, D.C.),
Shahara Ingram (Yonkers, New York) and
Katie Carroll (Westlake, Ohio) each added a bucket late to complete the 46-point victory.
At the final buzzer, Quinnipiac torched the net in the second half going 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) from the floor. All 12 Bobcats to see the floor on Friday finished with points in the final stat sheet. The Bobcat bench outscored Maine's reserves 41-5 while Quinnipiac also owned massive advantages in points in the paint (42-20) and points off turnovers (27-7).
Quinnipiac will deal with a quick turnaround with hopes of continuing their storybook season on Sunday at 2 PM as Temple enters the TD Bank Sports Center in WNIT Second Round action.