Fabbri fixed on next opponent after another milestone
The 450th victory was was not easy, a game Quinnipiac led by just one point with 12 seconds remaining before pulling away from Fordham.
The 62-58 win Saturday lifted the Bobcats to 2-1 in a season marked by two canceled games and the specter of COVID-19 making each day uncertain. Yet Tricia Fabbri, the only coach in the program’s Division I history, wasn’t about to bask in the latest milestone of her 26-year career.
That’s not the way she operates.
“Quite literally, onto the next game,” Fabbri said. “Happy that we won on Saturday and ready to prepare for our next opponent. Just happy to win and move on, quite frankly.
“I think you just pile them up, right? You just want to stack wins. You’re looking at the good wins, and where you need to get better.”
Fabbri has been one of the most consistently successful coaches in the country, notching 10 seasons with 20 or more victories and leading the Bobcats to the NCAA Tournament five times. Quinnipiac has put together nine consecutive winning seasons under Fabbri, who is one of 111 Division I coaches with 450 or more wins.
She has also won MAAC Coach of the Year twice and was NEC Coach of the year three times.
But don’t think Fabbri is pausing to ponder all of the success.
“When it’s all said and done, you look back at the career and those milestones,” she said. “But not right now.”
After the season? “You just self-assess the whole season, right?” Fabbri said. “Just game by game, what you did well, what you did during that season. Especially this (summer). We had time while we were at home, so you really were able to get into the weeds of the season. … I think that’s every coach, every staff does that.
“The milestone, and the numbers … you just want to win the game that’s in front of you, that’s for sure.”
The next scheduled game in front of her is Saturday in Hamden against Army. The first MAAC game is Dec. 18 at Manhattan.
In a season with so much unknown, Fabbi recently wondered if she and her staff were giving her players too much to think about. Like all programs, it has been a roller coaster for the Bobcats — the scheduled games against UConn and another opponent in the Hall of Fame Challenge inside the Mohegan Sun bubble was canceled, so there the programs has been in a state of flux.
But her players has been navigating the season and relishing the opportunity to simply place.
“For the most part, it’s been a great start,” Fabbri said. “To be playing games, we’re really thankful to have three games under our belt. And I like just how we have improved and each practice, how we’re getting better. Really pleased to be playing.”