MAAC Monday: WBB advanced stat wrapup

The offseason is still upon us, but MAAC Monday returns with an advanced stat review of the women's basketball season, which concluded with Quinnipiac winning its second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in three seasons en route to an unforgettable run to the program's first-ever Sweet 16, cementing head coach Tricia Fabbri's legend in Hamden. Just as we did for the men, we will look at pace and efficiency, as well as the Four Factors for each MAAC school. Our women's basketball correspondent, Ray Floriani, was gracious enough to lend a contributing hand to the cause for this review, and we appreciate his efforts. As always, any and all statistics reflected within MAAC Monday were gleaned from the individual stat pages or final game notes of each school.

Possessions per game, from highest to lowest:
1) Monmouth (74.74)
2) Rider (72.12)
3) Siena (71.83)
4) Quinnipiac (71.78)
5) Saint Peter's (67.67)
6) Iona (67.45)
7) Marist (67.44)
8) Canisius (67.35)
9) Niagara (66.9)
10) Manhattan (65.5)
11) Fairfield (65.03)

Analysis: The MAAC saw a few teams push the ball, as evidenced by four schools eclipsing the 70-possession threshold per game, but as a whole, the conference tended to play more on the conservative side. Marist and Fairfield, whose offenses are predicated mainly on motion sets, fell in the second half of the spectrum, but of the bottom five in tempo, Joe Frager's Stags were the lone team to post a winning record in league play. Monmouth, a full two-plus possessions clear of their next closest competitor, was aided by three players averaging two or more offensive rebounds per contest and six or more boards per game overall.

Points per possession, from highest to lowest:
1) Quinnipiac (0.95)
2) Siena (0.92)
3) Marist (0.914)
4) Rider (0.911)
5) Niagara (0.90)
6) Fairfield (0.89)
7) Iona (0.88)
8) Canisius (0.879)
9) Monmouth (0.868)
10) Manhattan (0.84)
11) Saint Peter's (0.80)

Points per possession against, from lowest to highest:
1) Quinnipiac (0.82)
2) Rider (0.84)
3) Iona (0.85)
4) Monmouth (0.878)
5) Fairfield (0.883)
6) Siena (0.93)
7) Canisius (0.955)
8) Saint Peter's (0.957)
9) Marist (0.959)
10) Manhattan (0.97)
11) Niagara (1.01)

Analysis: Fearless. Focused. Fabbri. Quinnipiac's plus-0.13 efficiency margin led the pack, with only three other schools finishing with a positive margin. As it turned out, those three; Rider, Fairfield and Iona, all joined the Bobcats in the semifinals of the MAAC tournament, proving that efficiency had a direct correlation on year-end success. Rider's defense was something to behold over the course of a dream season that took head coach Lynn Milligan from the hot seat to Coach of the Year honors and an appearance in the WNIT behind MAAC Player of the Year Robin Perkins. On the offensive side, Niagara was the only program to have a better offensive efficiency overall than in conference play, with their 0.90 points per possession eclipsing their 0.87 mark in MAAC contests.

Effective field goal percentages, from highest to lowest:
1) Canisius (.461)
2) Niagara (.455)
3) Rider (.452)
4) Marist (.4504)
5) Fairfield (.4496)
6) Quinnipiac (.447)
7) Siena (.443)
8) Manhattan (.4384)
9) Monmouth (.4375)
10) Iona (.429)
11) Saint Peter's (.410)

Analysis: Maybe there was something in the Western New York water, as Canisius and Niagara finished first and second in effective field goal percentage offense. Interestingly enough, the Golden Griffins and Purple Eagles were two of only four MAAC schools to shoot 40 percent or better from the floor, with Niagara's Kaylee Stroemple and her 51 percent shooting ranking third in the league. For Saint Peter's, owners of the lowest percentage, the season was yet another long and unfortunate struggle. Head coach Pat Coyle and the Peacocks won only two league contests, one of which was a surprising takedown of longtime league kingpin Brian Giorgis and Marist on the road at McCann Arena. A glimmer of hope remains in Jersey City, though, as sophomore Zoe Pero returns off All-Rookie honors last season.

Free throw rates, from highest to lowest:
1) Siena (34.0 percent)
2) Rider (33.0)
3) Marist (30.7)
4) Iona (30.0)
5) Canisius (29.3)
6) Quinnipiac (29.2)
7) Fairfield (28.6)
8) Niagara (26.3)
9) Monmouth (26.2)
10) Saint Peter's (25.6)
11) Manhattan (21.1)

Analysis: Siena once again battled without former MAAC Rookie of the Year Margot Hetzke, but in her absence, the Saints managed to draw the most fouls among their MAAC counterparts, with each of their three leading scorers making more than 100 trips to the free throw line. Getting there is half the battle, and the trio of Jackie Benitez, Meghan Donohue and Kollyns Scarbrough not only made the effort; but made it count as well, as each shot 71 percent or better at the charity stripe with Benitez, the MAAC's Defensive Player of the Year, leading the way at an 83 percent clip.

Offensive rebound rates, from highest to lowest:
1) Siena (35.1 percent)
2) Monmouth (34.8)
3) Quinnipiac (34.6)
4) Iona (33.0)
5) Niagara (30.5)
6) Manhattan (30.37)
7) Saint Peter's (30.35)
8) Rider (30.1)
9) Fairfield (27.4)
10) Marist (27.0)
11) Canisius (24.9)

Analysis: Benitez, Donohue and Scarbrough, all of whom were so instrumental to Siena's conference-leading free throw rate, had a similarly profound effect on the Saints' crashing of the offensive glass as well, with the trio serving as the three leading rebounders for head coach Ali Jaques. Not far behind was Monmouth, who benefited from Alexa Middleton and Taylor Nason giving center Christina Mitchell some greatly needed assistance in the post. For Manhattan, the emergence of junior center Kayla Grimme, a third team all-MAAC selection, gave the Jaspers a building block around which Heather Vulin can shape her team around as she begins her second campaign in Riverdale. Grimme pulled down 231 rebounds overall in her first full season after injuries offset the start of her career, and her 60 blocked shots led the conference.

Turnover rates, from lowest to highest:
1) Quinnipiac (20.5 percent)
2) Fairfield (21.6)
3) Marist (21.8)
4) Siena (23.0)
5) Canisius (23.3)
6) Niagara (23.41)
7) Rider (23.44)
8) Iona (24.0)
9) Monmouth (25.032)
10) Manhattan (25.038)
11) Saint Peter's (26.2)

Analysis: The previously noted conservative pace was not as much of a boon to ball handling, as each team in the league recorded turnover percentages of over 20 percent, with Quinnipiac's 20.5 serving as the best figure in the conference. Fairfield and Marist, two of the more deliberately-paced teams in the MAAC, ranked second and third behind the Bobcats, to no surprise of those who follow the Stags and Red Foxes.

Player Usage Leaders
1) Victoria Rampado, Niagara (33.7 percent of team possessions)
2) Robin Perkins, Rider (33.1)
3) Kelsey Carey, Fairfield (30.6)
4) Sara Hinriksdottir, Canisius (29.5)
5) Jackie Benitez, Siena (29.0)
6) Kollyns Scarbrough, Siena (27.8)
7) Kayla Grimme, Manhattan (27.7)
T-8) Rebekah Hand, Marist (26.0)
T-8) Marina Lizarazu, Iona (26.0)
10) Alexis Lewis, Iona (25.3)

Player Efficiency Leaders
1) Alexis Lewis, Iona (16.6)
2) Kayla Grimme, Manhattan (16.3)
3) Victoria Rampado, Niagara (15.6)
4) Kelsey Carey, Fairfield (13.4)
5) Kollyns Scarbrough, Siena (13.2)
6) Sara Hinriksdottir, Canisius (13.0)
7) Rebekah Hand, Marist (12.8)
8) Jackie Benitez, Siena (12.7)
9) Marina Lizarazu, Iona (12.5)
10) Robin Perkins, Rider (10.4)