Bobcats’ belief and determination brings QU back to MAAC title game

Quinnipiac celebrates return to MAAC championship game after overtime win over Iona. Bobcats now chase first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Tricia Fabbri has seen many teams come and go through the doors of her locker room over 31 years as the head coach at Quinnipiac. Very few, maybe none, before have embodied the literal concept of a team as much as her current cadre of Bobcats.

Quinnipiac has been tested, even through a 19-1 conference season. It has bent, especially in recent days when point guard and lead facilitator Paige Girardi has been unavailable. It has been pushed to the limit, as Iona yet again did in Sunday’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament semifinal.

One thing the Bobcats have not done is break. And after surviving Iona’s latest upset bid Sunday, one that required overtime to close, Quinnipiac is not only intact, but very much walking through an inferno taller and stronger than at any other point during the season.

“I think it’s been one of the best teams that we have coached,” Fabbri remarked in the aftermath of a 63-62 victory that underscored the resilience that has long been a hallmark of Bobcat squads of her tenure. “We were gritty when it mattered the most. In terms of resilience, focus, determination on knowing exactly what we want to do, how we’re going to accomplish it and go about our business one day at a time, (it) has been second to none in terms of teams that I’ve coached in the past.”

“I’m nothing but proud of this team for how far we’ve come,” junior forward Anna Foley reflected. “We know what we’re capable of. The word this week, the past month, has been, ‘believe.’ We knew we could believe and come out with the win, no matter how dire it looked. We leaned on each other and we know what’s waiting for us tomorrow. We just have to go take it.”

From where Quinnipiac came in the offseason, following the transfer of former MAAC Player and Rookie of the Year Gal Raviv, is a testament to the culture of winning Fabbri has tended to during her time in Hamden. With veterans like Foley, Karson Martin, Jackie Grisdale and Ella O’Donnell captaining the ship, it eases the pressure on the underclassmen in the program and allows them to produce at their own pace. A byproduct of that production is the natural maturation during the season, something exhibited by freshman Ella Ryan, who has been instrumental in her rookie season.

“I like to think that I have this basketball part of self that I balance with my personal self,” Ryan said when asked about her ability to stay unfazed by the moment. “And as soon as I step on the court, Basketball Ella takes over. I’m focused, the mentality is there, and it’s honestly just next possession up, stay calm, let it go and focus on what’s coming and not what already happened.”

“The fact that, as a freshman, she’s had to step up since game two, the pressure and the responsibility that she’s had to have this entire season — starting and still doing what she’s doing — is insane,” Martin added.

The veteran instincts have contributed to a battle-hardened group that now stands 40 minutes from the program’s first NCAA Tournament trip since 2019, a drought that was once considered to be unheard of before the emergence of Fairfield at the top of the MAAC. But whether it is the in-state rival Stags or anyone else that stands before the Bobcats, one thing remains certain, that everyone will need to be stopped to prevent Quinnipiac from ascending the summit once more.

“Time and again, it’s been a great balance of talent offensively and being really gritty defensively off the glass,” Fabbri said. “On and off the court, it’s been super connected. We won our 26th game today, we did that last year. I think they’ve been undervalued with what they have done and accomplished in this conference to get all the way back to a championship game.”

“To watch what this team has been able to create and get all the way back here, I think that’s pretty impressive and I think it speaks to the character of the young ladies that we have in that locker room, and the belief that we have in each other. Everyone can say it should happen, but this time of year, it doesn’t necessarily happen. To be able to do that has been really impressive for these young ladies and the staff this year.”