Quinnipiac, Fairfield advance to MAAC women's basketball tournament championship game
The showdown most expected for the MAAC Tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is set.
Top-seeded Quinnipiac and No. 2 Fairfield advanced to Monday's final at Jack Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. with wins Sunday. The Bobcats got a basket from Anna Foley with 26.5 seconds left in overtime and held on to edge No. 4 Iona 63-62, while the Stags, ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll, beat third-seeded Merrimack 65-48 as Jillian Huerter had 19 points.
The final is set for a 6 p.m. start at Boardwalk Hall and can be seen on ESPN+.
"Us and Quinnipiac are two great teams," Fairfield coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis said. "These are two teams that regardless of the outcome tomorrow deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament in my opinion. These are two of the best mid-majors in the country for a reason. I love that we get to go head to head in the pinnacle of our conference tournament and I'm excited for the matchup."
Quinnipiac (26-5) and Fairfield (27-4) split their regular-season meeting with both winning on the road. The Bobcats won 72-58 at Mahoney Arena on Jan. 29 while the Stags won 75-63 at M&T Bank Arena on Feb. 14. Monday's game is always a rematch of the 2025 final won by Fairfield as the Stags are seeking a third straight title and fourth in five seasons.
According to herhoopstats.com bracketologist Megan Gauer, Quinnipiac (NET 80) must win to get into the NCAA Tournament
while Fairfield (NET 53) would still be in the conversation for an at-large bid with a loss.
Quinnipiac 63, Iona 62 (OT)
Foley's 15-footer off a pass from Jackie Grisdale made for the 18th and final lead change of the game. There were also 10 ties.
"It was just being in the moment," Foley said. "These are the moments we're made for. This is why it's March. This is why it's so fun.
"I had missed a free throw but to have an opportunity to make it count in the end ... I got a great pass from Jackie and trusted all the work I have done. It felt great to see it go in."
Iona (20-12) had the final possession and final shot. Guard Mya Zaccagnini drove around Foley and had a clear look at the basket but missed the layup with 1.3 seconds left. Quinnipiac took over and, after a time out, was able to run out the clock before the Gaels could foul.
Quinnipiac, which won the only regular-season meeting with Iona 80-54 on Jan. 1, led 30-24 at halftime. It was tied at 45 going to the fourth quarter. The Gaels led by two before Ella Ryan's basket with 59.1 seconds left made it 59-all. The Bobcats had two shots to win miss and the game went to overtime.
"We had the opportunity to win it and close it and didn't do it," Quinnipiac coach Tricia Fabbri said. "But we've got five more minutes and it's back to business. It's finding a way to do it together and that's exactly what you saw."
Karson Martin had 19 points for Quinnipiac with Ryan adding 15 and Foley 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Zoey Ward had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Iona with Naomi Barnwell chipping in 20 points and nine rebounds.
The Bobcats will be seeking their sixth MAAC title and first since a three-peat from 2017-19.
"The second we lost last year, it's all we could think about to get back," Foley said. "We knew we had to earn every step of the way. We came out with the win no matter how dire it looked and we know what is waiting for us tomorrow."
Fairfield 65, Merrimack 48
The Stags led by four at halftime and by only two late in the third quarter before breaking it open with a 16-2 run.
"That's what March is all about," Thibault-DuDonis said. "It was a tough, gritty win for our team. That is a good Merrimack team, so we knew it would be a tough, physical game. But we answered the bell. We were poised when we needed to be and we got stops when we needed to and we were disciplined."
The victory was the 800th in program history.
Fairfield, which won the only regular-season meeting with Merrimack 84-65 on Dec. 21, led 41-39 before getting a hoop from Cyanne Coe, four free throws from Meghan Andersen and a free throw from Janelle Brown to take a 48-41 lead to the fourth quarter. Brown opened the final period with a four-point play and Sydney Scott's 3-pointer doubled that lead to 14 with 8:04 to go.
Merrimack (19-12) got the next four points before the Stags closed with a 10-3 spurt for the final margin.
Huerter finished 5-for-8 from behind the arc. Andersen had 18 points and nine rebounds, doing most of her damage in the second half.
"I've been learning to find new ways to impact the team as much as I can," Andersen said. "Whether it's on defense, getting an assist or being physical in the post, utilizing more parts of my game allows me to keep my head in it."
Brown had 10 points while Coe tacked on nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and six steals. MAAC Player of the Year Kaety L'Amoreaux did not score in 26 minutes and was ejected after picking up her second Flagrant-1 foul of the game with 5:32 left. She is eligible to play in Monday's final.
Se'Lah Reddick had 17 points but Fairfield held MAAC first-team selection Madison Roman to five.
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