HAMDEN — Quinnipiac women’s basketball closed out the America East-Metro Challenge with a whimper, falling to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 91-67 in the home half of the showcase.
“Hats off to UMBC; they’re a good ball club,” head coach Roman Owen said. “I think they’re picked two or three in America East, and they’re playing really, really hard.”
From the beginning of the contest, the Bobcats looked outclassed by the UMBC side. From the jump, the physicality set the visiting squad apart, with the Retrievers outmuscling the Bobcats to build opportunities in the paint.
“We have to get more physical,” Owen said.
That physicality led to fouls from both sides. Despite limiting their fouls to just four compared to the Retrievers seven in the opening quarter, three of the Bobcats’ gaffes resulted in trips to the free-throw line for the Retrievers.
“We had some really silly fouls in the first half, where we fell into the jump shot,” Owen said.
Pair that with strong three-point shooting for UMBC as the Retrievers finished the frame 3-4 from beyond the arc, and Quinnipiac found itself down by six early.
The second proved more of the same. The early physicality continued in UM...