No. 12 Quinnipiac Faces No. 1 South Carolina in NCAA Women's Basketball Sweet 16
MAAC Sports
STOCKTON, CA – No. 12 Quinnipiac University (29-6, 17-3 MAAC) takes on No. 1 University of South Carolina (29-4, 14-2 SEC) in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, March 25 at 1:00 p.m. (PT), 4:00 p.m. (ET). The Regional Round is hosted at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA and airs live on ESPN. The Bobcats are the second team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s (MAAC) history to advance to the Sweet 16, joining Marist College (2007).
Quinnipiac defeated No. 4 University of Miami, 85-78, on Monday, March 20 for its second consecutive victory of a nationally ranked opponent. The Bobcats defeated No. 5 Marquette University, 68-65, in the First Round on Saturday, March 18 for their first-ever victory in the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Schedule:
First Round: March 17-18
Second Round: March 19-20
Sweet 16: March 24-25
Elite Eight: March 26-27
Final Four: March 31
Championship Final: April 2
Marist is the only other MAAC representative to advance to the Sweet 16. The Red Foxes were the No. 13 seed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament and faced No. 1 University of Tennessee in the Sweet 16. The Red Foxes were defeated by the Lady Volunteers, 65-46. Quinnipiac’s matchup with South Carolina marks 10 years to the exact date that Marist took on Tennessee on March 25, 2007.
As a No. 12 Seed, the Bobcats are the lowest remaining seed heading into the Sweet 16. Quinnipiac is just the fourth No. 12 seed in NCAA Women’s Basketball Division I history to advance to the Sweet 16, joining BYU (2014), Kansas (2013), and San Francisco (1996). The Bobcats are also the fourth team in Division I women’s basketball history to knock off both a No. 4 and 5 seed en route to a Sweet 16 berth.
Quinnipiac could become the first double-digit seed in Tournament history to reach the Elite 8. A double-digit seed has defeated a No. 1 seed once in Tournament history, No. 16 Harvard defeated No. 1 Stanford in the First Round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
MAAC All-Time Wins in NCAA Tournament:
2017 First Round – No. 12 Quinnipiac – 68 | No. 5 Marquette – 65
2017 Second Round – No. 12 Quinnipiac – 85 | No. 4 Miami – 78
2012 First Round – No. 13 Marist – 76 | No. 4 Georgia – 60
2011 First Round – No. 10 Marist – 74 | No. 7 Iowa State – 64
2008 First Round – No. 7 Marist – 76 | No. 10 DePaul – 57
2007 First Round – No. 13 Marist – 67 | No. 4 Ohio State – 63
2007 Second Round – No. 13 Marist – 73 | No. 5 Middle Tennessee State – 59
1989 First Round – No. 9 La Salle – 72 | No. 8 Connecticut – 63
The Bobcats played in their fourth NCAA Tournament game (2-2) in the program’s Division I history, which dates to 1998-99. Quinnipiac has made it to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last five years and it is the second time that they are representing the MAAC. This also marked the sixth consecutive national postseason appearance for the Bobcats.
Quinnipiac Notes:
· Quinnipiac improved to (1-2) all-time against Miami and (1-9) all-time against ACC opponents.
· Quinnipiac’s 85-point outburst were the most points scored by a MAAC representative in a NCAA Tournament Second Round game.
· Morgan Manz’ 22 points are tied for the second most scored in a NCAA Tournament Second Round game by a player from a current MAAC full-time member institution. Marist’s Corielle Yarde scored 25 points on March 21, 2011 and fellow Red Fox Jessica Jenkins had a 22-point point game on March 20, 2012.
· Quinnipiac converted 15 three-pointers in its Second Round win over No. 4 Miami, finishing just one shy of matching a single-game program record. Quinnipiac’s 15 threes were the third-most in the NCAA Second Round history.
· Quinnipiac improved to (2-9) all-time against nationally ranked opponents, defeated No. 16 Miami and No. 25 Marquette en route to the Sweet 16.
· Quinnipiac is (1-2) all-time against SEC opponents. This will be its first-ever meeting with South Carolina.
· Quinnipiac extended its season-high winning streak to 12-straight games.
· Quinnipiac is one of 13 programs across the nation to have won at least three-straight conference regular season titles. The Bobcats have recorded a mark of 54-6 (.900) in conference games in that three-year span (since 2014-15).
Quinnipiac 2016-17 All-MAAC Honors:
· MAAC Regular Season Champions
· Adily Martucci: (MAAC Championship MVP, All-MAAC Second Team)
· Jen Fay: (All-Championship Team, All-MAAC Third Team)
· Aryn McClure: (All-Championship Team, All-MAAC Third Team)
· Carly Fabbri: (All-Championship Team)