Quinnipiac Overtakes Monmouth in MAAC Championship Quarterfinals
MAAC Sports
ALBANY, N.Y. – Quinnipiac’s Val Driscoll led the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points and nine rebounds and two assists while shooting perfect from the line going three for three. In the second round matchup, the No. 9 Hawks fell to the No. 1 Bobcats 82-61 on Friday morning in the opening round of the 2015 MAAC Women's Basketball Championship.
Jasmine Martin contributed 16 points and went nine for nine from the charity stripe. Gillian Abshire recorded 16 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
Quinnipiac took an early lead in the contest coming out with a 10-0 run early on two treys by Abshire and two layups by Driscoll to open the game. Monmouth was able to keep the Bobcats in check with a jumper by Jasmine Walker at the 14:47 mark to trail by just six points, 15-9. Quinnipiac got their biggest lead of the half at the 5:34 mark with two free thows from Driscoll to give the Bobcats a 23 point advantage, bringing the score to 37-14. At the half Quinnipiac led the Hawks 47-26. The second half would see the Hawks come out with energy as they brought the lead to within 11 points as the score stood 52-41 at the 13:55 mark after a Sarah English rebound for a Christina Mitchell layup. The Bobcats would extend the lead again going up by 19 points 62-43 at the 11:14 time mark with two Jasmine Martin free throws. Quinnipiac would hang onto the lead and take a 29 point lead 82-53 with 2:44 left to play on a Maria Napolitano free throw. Monmouth’s comeback attempt was halted after a Mitchell jumper with 48 seconds to play to bring the final score to 82-61.
Helena Kurt would finish with 11 points and five rebounds, while Walker added 11 points, seven rebounds and went four for four from the line.
Quinnipiac will face the winner of No. 4 seed Iona and No. 5 seed Siena in the semifinals on Sunday at 11:00 p.m.
The 2015 MAAC Basketball Championships continue at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. March 5-9. Tickets can be purchased here.
The MAAC will host the NCAA Women's Basketball Sweet Sixteen Albany Regional at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Tickets can be purchased here.
For the full women’s basketball schedule, visits maacsports.com and remember to follow the conversation on twitter using #MAACHoops and #MAACHoops15.