The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Quinnipiac dances the pain away
ALBANY, N.Y. — The day did not start nearly as well as it ended for Quinnipiac. The pain behind Jen Fay’s left knee was real. So was Marist’s seven-point lead in the second quarter.
Oh, Monday would end with Fay bouncing up and down in glee and coach Tricia Fabbri urging everyone at Times Union Center to put on their dancing shoes, but it began with the MVP of the MAAC women’s basketball championship unable to bend one of her dancing legs.
“When I woke up, it was pretty bad,” Fay said.
Fay, who would score 19 of her 23 points in the second half of this 67-58 victory over Marist to push the Bobcats to their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, had landed awkwardly in the semifinal game against Rider on Sunday.
“I didn’t think we were going to have her,” Fabbri said. “It wasn’t anything structural. It was more muscular, but it was in a tough spot to really treat. Night into the morning, it totally stiffened up on her. She couldn’t bend it. She felt unstable. She said ‘I’m not sure if I will be able to go.’ ”
Fay hadn’t seen Dr. David Wang, Quinnipiac’s team physician, yet. She hadn’t seen trainer Becky Mella.
“I said, ‘Let them work their magic. It’s unlikely, but we’ll let them figure it out,’ ” Fabbri said. “Becky was dealing with the mind and body, but we were looking at going in with Plan B. She started feeling better in the shootaround.”
Moments earlier during the formal part of the post-game press conference, Fabbri had talked about the pain Fay had felt in the back of her leg the past couple weeks. And then she proclaimed:
“Besides Jen being named MVP, the real MVPs were Dr. Wang who traveled with us, Becky Mella and our student trainer Kelsey McDonough who did a fantastic job working on Jen yesterday after the game into this morning.”
Shades of Willis Reed, Fay came out firing in the first half. And missing. She was 0-for-5 from 3. She only had four points, but she also had five rebounds and she was a presence. The Bobcats needed her. They needed everything they had for their first backto-back NCAA appearance in school history. “Coach Mountain (MacGillivray), I’ll give him a