NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College women’s basketball fell short of making program history Sunday afternoon, falling to the Quinnipiac Bobcats on senior day by a final score of 69-53. With the loss, the Gaels sit as the number two seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship.
By virtue of the victory, the Quinnipiac Bobcats win their second consecutive MAAC Regular Season Championship with a final #MAACHoops record of 17-3. Head Coach Tricia Fabbri has now led her team to 17 straight wins, a streak that ranked sixth-longest in the country coming into today’s contest against the Maroon & Gold.
The opening half of the contest was hotly contested, much like the first matchup between these two MAAC foes earlier this season in Hamden, CT. The Gaels defense held the Bobcats to just eight points in the opening quarter, and via their stringent start, head coach Billi Godsey led her team into the locker room with a 32-29 edge.
A key to Iona’s early success was its ability to get two of the Bobcats premiere players in foul trouble; Bobcat senior Maria Napolitano, and freshman Paula Strautmane each played limited minutes as a result of picking up two personals.
The second half belonged solely to the defending MAAC champions. Quinnipiac held the Gaels to just 26.7% shooting over the third and fourth quarter; in addition they forced seven second half turnovers, six coming in the third. The Maroon & Gold could only muster eight points in the first ten minutes coming out of the locker room.
Iona found themselves down by as many as 20, coming at the end of stretch when seven straight shots were missed.
Led by Strautmane and sophomore Sarah Shewan, the Bobcats outrebounded Iona 44 to 29, including 12 to eight on the offensive glass.
Prior to the game, coach Godsey, and Director of Iona Athletic Rick Cole Jr. honored the programs three seniors; Cassidee Ranger, Aaliyah Robinson, and Joy Adams.
In their final game at the Hynes Athletics Center, Adams finished with 11 points and six rebounds. The All-Time MAAC & Iona rebounding leader struggled against the length and physicality that the Bobcats showed in the paint. Adams did have a game-high four steals, and five turnovers.
Robinson played 34 minutes, scoring nine points, and pulling in two rebounds.
Junior Karynda DuPree finished the game in double-figures with 10 points on five-of-10 shooting. Junior Marina Lizarazu scored a team-high 14 points, and managed to contribute on four Gaels field goals.
As the 2015-16 regular season has now come to an end, Iona will carry a 20-11 overall, and 16-4 MAAC record when they head up to Albany for the conference championship. The Maroon & Gold will play in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 4 at 2:30 pm against the winner of the #7 Siena vs. #10 Rider matchup.