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Women’s basketball roll past Bryant, push for playoffs

By Matt Eisenberg on February 22, 2011

Monday night was not a Northeast conference playoff preview, but Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri believes the way her club played against Bryant will be.

All five Bobcat starters scored in double figures, led by Felicia Barron’s 21 points. Brittany McQuain recorded her fifth career double-double and the Bobcats forced 28 Bryant turnovers en route to an 81-67 win at Chase Athletic Center.

“We had good execution, scored a lot, overall our intensity was really good and we played well,” Fabbri said. “The big picture is we’re in the playoffs and we’re looking to play good in the playoffs.”

McQuain scored 15 points and brought down 14 rebounds, Kari Goodchild and Courtney Kaminski scored 16 and Jacinda Dunbar 10 for the Bobcats (13-14, 10-6 NEC).

Barron scored 15 first-half points and recorded five steals.

“She played a great game, and when she is going to play like that we’re going to win those games,” Fabbri said.

The Bobcats went on a pivotal 17-4 run that lasted over six minutes, overlapping both halves for a 50-36 lead with 17:42 remaining.

The Bulldogs (8-19, 5-11) never got closer to eight points the rest of the way.

With the Bobcats up 33-32 in the first, McQuain hit a layup and a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer by Barron for a 7-0 run. McQuain hit a free throw and ended the opening half with a layup for a 43-36 halftime advantage.

Quinnipiac forced five turnovers in the run and scored 35 of their points off Bryant turnovers.

The Bobcats end their season with two home games against Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth, but are looking ahead to the conference playoffs.

Quinnipiac is tied with Robert Morris (13-13, 10-6) for fifth in the conference, but are only two games out of first place. Three other teams are one game up on the Bobcats and stand in the way of them hosting a possible playoff game.

“There are a lot of good teams with some really good players and it’s going to be who’s going to play the best on that evening for those 40 minutes is going to come away with a win,” Fabbri said. “This race is wide open. I just want us playing really well, firing off all cylinders, and I thought we got really good offensive and defensive play and execution.”

Photo credit: Alessia Tranfaglia