This was a quality win on the road. Quinnipiac's 1-4 record is deceiving. Their four losses have come from Maryland, and close games against Harvard, Yale, and Drexel (who had already beaten A10's Davidson and Richmond this year). Last year, Q was 26-7 and went to the NCAAs. They have been a mid-major force for the last five years, winning the MAAC regular season title in each of those years.

Q started out strong at the start. GW's defense was porous and open shots were hard to come by on offense. Once again, Hyduke was up the challenge and her 16 first half points kept us in the game. In the second half, the defense tightened up, and other players took over. It's been a while since five GW players scored double figures in the same game, but this was due a lot more to good team offensive flow than individual play.

Also for the second straight game, Taiwo was huge. She was all over the court and made a big impact on the game defensively. She reminds me a lot of Hannah Schaible, but more athletic. As for Hyduke, it may be a blessing in disguise that Zambrotta was injured. She has taken on the alpha role for this team, odd for someone who is typically the smallest player on the court, but is totally under control. Her very casual step back 3 point shot is deadly. She's over 51% on 3 pointers and reduced her TOs significantly.

I've been pleasantly surprised at the rate of improvement of this team. After the way things started, I couldn't foresee being 6-3 at this point. We're coming to a tough stretch in our schedule, with Minnesota, JMU, American, and W&M before A10 play. Here's hoping the improvement continues.

Last edited by xAC (12/08/2019 11:52 am)