ALBANY — With the Canisius women’s basketball team victory over rival Niagara, Canisius moves on to play No. 1 Quinnipiac on Friday at 1 p.m.
This was the third time the Blue and Gold entered the No. 8 vs. No. 9 seed game, and the second-straight season facing Niagara in the game, however it was the first win in that span. Despite Niagara tying the game on a last-second trey by Tiffany Corselli, the Griffs pulled away in OT, outscoring Niagara 11-5. Maria Welch had her best game of the season and arguably of her career, notching a career-best 25 points (5-of-7 from 3-point land) to lead the team. The Griffs had four players in double-figures and two players with 20-or-more points. Lauren D’Hont had a strong effort as well, as she was the other player in 20 points for Canisius, scoring 20 with six rebounds.
On the season overall, Hinriksdottir is Leading the team offensively, and averages 14.9 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per contest. She also shoots near 50 percent with a mark of 46.7 percent from the field. Lauren D’Hont is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game, to go along with a 3.9 rebound per contest mark. Also flirting with a double-digit average is Margret Halfdanardottir, who averages 9.3 per contest. The long-range specialist is shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Blue and Gold is averaging 59.3 points per game, while opponents are tallying 64.4 points per contest.• As a team the Griffs are averaging 32.4 rebounds per game, while opponents are bringing down 37.4 for a -5.1 rebounding margin.
The series history between the Bobcats and Griffs is a relatively short one, with Quinnipiac having won all nine meetings between the two squads. All eight nine have come from 2013 to 2017. Quinnipiac holds a 4-0 record at home, 4-0 on the road, while boasting a 1-0 record in the two team’s only meeting in the MAAC tournament. Canisius has never had a meeting with Quinnipiac before the 2013 season, as Terry Zeh is 0-9 against the Bobcats. In the last tournament matchup the Bobcats on March 7, 2014, Quinnipiac came away with the victory 72-61. It was a tale of two halves as the Bobcats went up 44-21 at haftime, but the Griffs stormed back in the second half, scoring 40 points but coming up short. Kayla Hoohuli had 23 points in the effort, while Camryn Warner had 17 for the Bobcats.
Sophomore Maria Welch seems to love playing at the Times Union Center. In both games she’s played, she has hit 20-or-more points and led the team in scoring in both. Between the two games she has shot 9-of-13 from 3-point land, with four in her first game and five yesterday. Welch also set a career-best with 25 points and it was two points shy of the program record for points in a tournament gae, held by Shauna Geronzin who scored 27 against Fairfield in 2002. Welch was aslo the third Griff in program history to hit five 3-pointers in a MAAC Tournament game. The last Canisius player to make five triples in a conference postseason contest was former Griff Amanda Cavo, who had five treys against Fairfield March 7, 2009.
In the Grifs win on Thursday against the Purple Eagles, Canisius got strong offensive performances from a number of players but none better than that of Maria Welch (25 points) and Lauren D’Hont (20 points). The performances proved to be historic in MAAC tournament lore for the Blue and Gold as it was the first time Canisius has had two 20-point scorers in a MAAC tournament game.
Thursday’s win was just the fourth time in the program’s history that a game was decided with extram time in the MAAC tournament. It was also just the second time Canisius has won a MAAC tournament overtime game, having gone 2-2 when leaving it to the extra frame. The last overtime game for the Griffs in postseason play came on March 4, 2011, when the team fell to Loyola, 68-53. Their last win in overtime is back on Feb. 25, 1999, when the squad defeated Fairfield, 96-90, then played downtown in Buffalo.
Sara Hinriksdottir has been far and away the Griffs best player all season and the most consistent. Through 30 games, the Keflavik Iceland, native has hit double-digit points in 26 games. Her 26 games with 10-or-more points is the most since Brittnae Russel had 10-or-more points in 25 contests in 2009-10. The program record for most 10-or-more games is held by Marie Warner who notched 29 double-figure contests during the 2007-08 season, nine seasons ago.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT