MAAC releases men’s and women’s schedules
There is so much uncertainty in the college sports world these days thanks to COVID-19, but that did not stop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference from releasing its conference schedules for the 2020-21 basketball season on Tuesday.
The women’s slate of MAAC games came first. Conference play is set to begin on Dec. 9 with five games, including Fairfield playing at Iona and Monmouth traveling to meet Quinnipiac.
Quinnipiac will play its next three conference games on the road while Fairfield’s next three MAAC contests will be at home.
The regular season wraps up on Mar. 6.
Fairfield is expected to return five of the seven players who averaged at least 10 minutes a game last season, led by Lou LopezSenechal (15.5 points, 5.7 rebounds) and Katie Armstrong (14 points, 7 rebounds) along with fellow returning starters Callie Cavanaugh and Rachel Hakes. Fairfield was 16-14 team last season, finishing with three straight wins before play was halted in the MAAC tournament due to COVID-19.
Quinnipiac had to work some new faces into the rotation last season after the graduation of one of the best senior classes in MAAC history. Transfer Shaq Edwards
out of Hartford led the 15-14 Bobcats in scoring, averaging 12.5 points per game. Freshmen Mikala Morris, Cur’Tiera Haywood and Sajada Bonner combined to start 39 games. Nine different Bobcats started at least two games.
Leading rebounder Paige Warfel, the only player to start all 29 games, and second-leading scorer Taylor Herd have graduated.
Quinnipiac announced Herd has been selected as a
SCLF Victory Scholar. Herd will attend Limerick IT in Ireland where she will work toward her Master of Business in Marketing and Management strategy.
The men’s schedule kicks off on Dec. 8 with Fairfield at Canisius and Quinnipiac playing host to Manhattan.
Jay Young’s second season at Fairfield features the return of Jesus Cruz and Taj Benning, the Stags’ second and third-leading scorers a season ago. Chris Maidoh, who eaned MAAC AllRookie honors last season, is also back after starting 30 games as a freshman. Caleb Green, who started 64 games at Holy Cross, is eligible after sitting out last season following his transfer. Green averaged 10.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 35.8 minutes per game during the 2018-19 campaign.
Quinnipiac returns Tyrese Williams and Jacob Rigoni who combined for 123 3-pointers a season ago along with Matt Balanc, Savion Lewis and 7-foot-1 sophomore Seth Pinkney. Leading scorer Rich Kelly and Kevin Marfo, the NCAA Division I leading rebounder, have transferred to Boston College and Texas A&M, respectively. Quinnipiac coach Baker Dunleavy will have nine freshmen or sophomores on the roster.
The MAAC released a schedule model which includes slots for non-conference games from Nov. 25-29, Nov. 30-Dec. 6 and Dec. 22-23.
Details of non-conference opponents will be announced later.
Quinnipiac was supposed to play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun with games at Rhode Island and UCF, then games at Mohegan Sun against Lehigh and either LIU or Albany. It is now more likely they play games against two of those three teams.
With travel restrictions in place, non-conference games for Connecticut programs will likely come against local teams.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
OPENING TIP: Quinnipiac’s men’s team will open conference play against a Manhattan team that it lost to twice a season ago, including a two-point loss in Hamden with Tyrese Williams leading the way with 21 points for the Bobcats. The Quinnipiac women will be at home against Monmouth the next day.
NUTMEG STATE CLASHES: Rider’s Stella Johnson went from lighting things up in the MAAC to playing in the WNBA. Marist suffered heavy graduation losses and when the basketball season gets underway, it won’t be a surprise to see Fairfield and Quinnipiac being major players in the women’s conference race. A talented Quinnipiac freshman class learned some tough lessons against some of the conference’s veteran teams and should be more effective the second time around. Fairfield’s Lou Lopez-Senechal could be the MAAC’s best player. Fairfield and Quinnipiac will meet at Fairfield on Jan. 20 and at Quinnipiac on Feb. 17. On the men’s side, Fairfield and Quinnipiac could be two of the youngest squads in the conference. They will meet on Jan. 8 in Hamden and Feb. 15 in Fairfield.
HALL OF FAME VISITOR: More than a few eyes will be on Iona’s head coach, the legendary Rick Pitino. The former head coach of the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, who had collegiate head coaching stints at Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville is set to bring Iona to Fairfield on Dec. 18 and to Quinnipiac on Feb. 2. With no fans allowed before Dec. 23, the Iona at Fairfield game won’t have the same atmosphere that a sold-out venue would bring, but there is a chance the Quinnipiac contest could include spectators and that could entertaining to say the least.