As game plans go, it was hard to fault what Quinnipiac coach Tricia Fabbri and her coaching staff came up with heading into the second round NCAA tournament matchup against 11-time national champion UConn.

The Bobcats aren't known for taking the air out of the ball but after seeing the disasterous consequences of attempting to get into a full-court game with the Huskies thanks to UConn's record-breaking demolition of Saint Francis (Pa.), Quinnipiac tried to limit how many possessions UConn had and hope it could make enough shots to make things interesting.

For a quarter and a half, the strategy was working perfectly.

Paula Strautmane had just hit a 3-pointer to make it an 8-point game and on the next possession she was even more open that she was on the previous made basket. However. Quinnipiac's leader in 3-point percentage coming into the game, missed the open 3. UConn senior Kia Nurse came down the other end and connected on her 3-pointer. After Quinnipiac's Jen Fay (who had a team high 12 points) missed a 3, UConn senior Gabby Williams hit a pair of foul shots so instead of the Bobcats threatening to make it a one-possession game, the Huskies were up by 13. At halftime it was a 15-point game and Quinnipiac got no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

"When you play in the NCAA tournament, you are shocked when an open 3 doesn't go in because every time you make a mistake, some kid makes an open 3, you can put that in the bank," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "When those two didn't go in, I was probably the most surprised person in the building. This team has a knack of making a shot when we have to, making a play when we have to. We didn't get great performances from a lot of players tonight but that is going to happen, you have to be able to win no matter what the circumstances."

Quinnipiac helped to create those circumstances. The Bobcats struggled to deal with Napheesa Collier and Azura' Stevens in the low post and since Quinnipiac didn't start anybody over 6-feet tall, it was only natural that the Huskies would try to exploit the advantage they had inside.

Quinnipiac is hardly the first team to try to limit the number of offensive possessions for UConn, the No. 1 scoring team in the country, But unlike most teams that try to utilize that strategy and are left scrambling to avoid shot clock violations, the Bobcats were able to get the shots they wanted more often than not.

"Teams that like to play us like that don't really execute but I think they were really disciplined," UConn senior forward Gabby Williams said. "They score a lot of points per game so that is not like how they usually play but they were able to stay disciplined and I think that goes to show how well coached they are and what kind of players they have."

Another thing working in Quinnipiac's favor was that the Bobcats committed only seven turnovers and the Huskies managed just two points off those turnovers forcing UConn to have to score its points in the half court rather than scoring at will in transition. The Bobcats also deserve credit for opening things up and shooting the ball with more of a sense of urgency once it became a 20-point UConn lead in the third quarter indicating that the objective was not simply to try to make the final margin not get too much out of control but to give their team the best chance of success.

“It was a lot of fun playing in front of that many fans,' said Fay, who led the Bobcats with 12 points. "That was the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of. I think we gave them a run for their money, especially in the first half, we really made stuff difficult for them. Obviously, we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted, but it was fun.”

UConn heads to the regionals for the 25th year in a row as the Huskies are the only team to reach the Sweet 16 every year since the tournament moved to 64 teams in 1994. Quinnipiac has plenty of build on as Carly Fabbri is the only player who going into the game who is not expected back next season.