Quinnipiac wins MAAC, headed back to NCAA Tournament

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Jen Fay was tearing up in Quinnipiac coach Tricia Fabbri’s hotel room Monday morning.

A left leg injury the junior forward suffered in the semifinals was hampering her ability to move around and she didn’t think she would be able to play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game. It seemed like a long shot.

She spent the hours leading up to the game getting treatment on the leg and was deemed fit to give it go.

Fay scored 12 of her 23 points in the third quarter and top-seed Quinnipiac won its 22nd straight game with a 67-58 victory over Marist on Monday to claim the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship.

“It was a championship game and would have taken a lot for me not to play,” said Fay, who had 10 rebounds and earned MVP honors for the MAAC Tournament. “Once the adrenaline kicked in I was ready to go.”

Now the Bobcats are back in the NCAA Tournament, a year after they were the surprise team advancing to the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual national champion South Carolina. With most of the group back from that amazing run, the Bobcats hope to go one step further this time.

“Hopefully they’ll be a little scared. We’ll be the underdog in that situation,” senior Carly Fabbri said. “Having been there and won there has been to our advantage.”

Trailing 35-34 at the break, Fay got the Bobcats (27-5) going. She had the first eight points of the period to give Quinnipiac a seven-point lead - it’s biggest of the game to that point.

The Red Foxes (20-13) got within 55-53 with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer by Fabbri and four straight points by Fay after Marist made two free throws restored the seven-point lead with 2:03 left. The lead ballooned to nine - the largest lead for either team in the three series meetings this season - and Marist could only get within six the rest of the way.

Fabbri finished with 15 points and the Bobcats had only three turnovers the entire game.

Alana Gilmer scored 19 points and Rebekah Hand added 17 for the Red Foxes.

“Our kids played their hearts out, a tremendous game,” Marist coach Brian Giorgis said. “Down the stretch we lost our legs. They were a little deeper than we were. They made big shots down the stretch. … We missed some shots.”

TIP-INS: The Bobcats tied the program record of 22 consecutive wins, set during the 2012-13 season. … Quinnipiac had just three turnovers in the game - all in the first half.

UP NEXT:

Marist: Awaits WNIT bid

Quinnipiac: Awaits seed for NCAA Tournament.