Quinnipiac Bobcats Win 2015 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship
MAAC Sports
ALBANY, N.Y. – No. 1 Quinnipiac University defeated No. 2 Marist College 72-61 in the championship game of the 2015 MAAC Women’s Basketball Championship at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, on ESPNU.
Quinnipiac got out to an early 7-0 lead after Jasmine Martin scored a quick five points in the first minute of play. The Bobcats led seven before the Red Foxes registered their first points of the game. A layup by Madeline Blais would give Marist their first lead of the game at the 15:23 mark with an 11-10 score. The game would be a back and forth battle, changing leads five times over the next 10 minutes. After a Blais foul, Quinnipiac’s Maria Napolitano was awarded three foul shots, all of which were converted for a seven point lead. Following a Sydney Coffey jumper, a trey by Jasmine Martin at 4:49 would give the Bobcats their biggest lead of the half. A three point shot by Allie Clement with just over a minute remaining in the half would bring the Red Foxes back into the game down by just two when Shaina Earle committed a foul on Coffey who would drain both free throws to tie the game with 17 seconds left in the first half. A follow up three pointer by Sarah Shewan would give the Bobcats a three point advantage going into halftime. Marist’s Natalie Gomez-Martinez would hit a half-court shot to tie the game at the buzzer, but it would be called back by official review.
Quinnipiac begin the second half up by eight points after a Martin three, but Marist would follow up with a quick comeback to score on a layup by Jarosz and two shots from Coffey from beyond the arc that found the net. At 16:22 Val Driscoll delivered a layup to regain the lead and the Bobcats would not trail for the remainder of the game. With seven minutes remaining in the game, Quinnipiac would lead Marist by 10 points on free throws from Nikoline Ostergaard. Quinnipiac would gather their largest lead of the night, a 16 point advantage on a Brianah Ramos layup with three minutes remaining. The final score of the game would come on free throws by Abshire to give Quinnipiac an 11 point lead, resulting in the 72-61 victory.
In just their second year in the league, the Bobcats would end the Marist College decade long run in the MAAC as the Red Foxes secured 9 consecutive conference titles including a championship last season against Quinnipiac. After going undefeated in league play this season, the Bobcats will now move on to the NCAA Tournament in hopes of moving forward and making some noise as a contender in the national spotlight.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Jasmine Martin scored a team high 18 points in the win for the Bobcats. All-Championship Team selection Samantha Guastella scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds. Joining Guastella on the All-Tournament Team are; Madeline Blais of Marist, Sydney Coffey of Marist, Tori Jarosz of Marsit, and Siena’s Tehresa Coles.