Emptying the MAAC notebook: Quinnipiac guard trio shines, Gabrielle Kennerly and Morgan Lee make a statement

But there are some things we do know. For instance, Manhattan junior guard Hana Muhl will be a threat. In the Jaspers’ first game of the year, the Ball State transfer dropped 28 points, six assists and five boards. Her ability from the field will force MAAC teams to pay attention to her.

For the rest of the conference, here are five things to know from the first two weeks of games.

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A three-headed monster in Hamden

Last season, Quinnipiac’s guards were mainly freshmen getting their feet wet in MAAC play for the first time. Karson Martin, Ava Sollenne, Paige Girardi and Maria Kealy all shared that responsibility. They did the best they could, but it wasn’t enough for a deep run in the playoffs.

This year is completely different. Martin has a year of collegiate basketball under her belt, senior guard Jackie Grisdale is back from injury and freshman guard Gal Raviv is now the one in Quinnipiac’s rotation. That three-headed monster brings an air of legitimacy and experience to the Bobcats that wasn’t previously there.

“In Gal and Jackie and Karson … I think you could see what could be the best perimeter for us ever,” head coach Tricia Fabbri said.

In the Bobcats’ 78-74 win over Patriot League champion Holy Cross, it was Martin and Raviv who went off. Respectively, they scored 25 and 22 points, with Martin getting a good chunk of her points from downtown and Raviv excelling at getting to the basket.

However, during their 76-53 win over Harvard, it was all Grisdale.

In her first game back in Hamden, Grisdale scored a career high of 33 points on 7-8 shooting from beyond the arc. While shooting 75% from the field, her seven made threes broke the program record for most in a game. Grisdale was eventually named MAAC Player of the Week for her performance.

“I almost was crying after the game out of happiness,” Grisdale said. “It was unbelievable.”

Besides Grisdale’s historic performance, another noticeable part of Quinnipiac’s guard play was how it broke Harvard’s press. Much of that can be attributed to Raviv, who Fabbri says is “unbelievably skilled.” Her ability to bring the ball up court and find open looks on the full-court press is something that the Bobcats didn’t have last year. Also, despite playing just 27 minutes in the Bobcats’ 74-66 win over Princeton on Nov. 16, Raviv still led the team with 21 points.

If Quinnipiac does go on a successful run this season, its guard play will be one of the main reasons why.

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Mount is building its pieces

Mount St. Mary’s redshirt freshman guard Gabrielle Kennerly tore her ACL and did not play one minute last season. It would’ve been easy for Mount head coach Antoine White to reconfigure his future plans, but he didn’t, and that has worked out well for him and the Mount.

Cut to the first three games of this year, and Kennerly has already earned a MAAC Rookie of the Week award while averaging 16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and one assist per game.

“It was a blessing,” Kennerly told The Next.

The Mountaineers are 0-3, but each game has taught them something different. Their offense has struggled to find a proper balance, but White has a more general takeaway: “We got to learn how to win,” White told The Next. “We’re going through some growing pains, but that’s necessary.”

In senior guard Jo Raflo’s absence (she is day-to-day with a lower-body injury), Kennerly, and freshmen guards Madison Ruff and Wesleigh Ferguson all have had to play more minutes and learn quickly. Nothing exemplifies this more than Kennerly’s past three games.

Against USF and Fairleigh Dickinson, Kennerly was the best player on the court. Her averages of 22.5 points and six rebounds led the team and helped fuel Mount’s offense.

Against Howard on Nov. 14, she got a taste of what it was like to finally be at the top of someone’s scouting report. Kennerly was shut down, and so were the Mountaineers. Of the 35 points Mount St. Mary’s scored, Kennerly only had five. Graduate guard Anna Lemaster and sophomore guard Tessa Engelman were there to pick her up, but Kennerly knew that was a taste of what’s to come.

“[Being atop someone’s scout] was definitely a reality check,” Kennerly said. “I’m glad this happened earlier in the season.”

With Mount continuing non-conference play against Bucknell on Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. and heading into MAAC play, look out for Kennerly to continue to perform and be an x-factor for Mount St. Mary’s.

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Siena’s freshmen guards

One of five reigning All-MAAC First Teamers and arguably Siena’s best player, junior guard Teresa Seppala, is away from the team competing for Finland in the 2025 FIBA European Championships. She plans to miss only the first three games, according to the Times Union.

Seppala leaves a massive hole to fill for not only head coach Terry Primm, but the rest of the squad. So, who has filled that hole for the Saints? The freshmen.

Aniya Hooker, Myriam Traore, Zoe Richardson, Ana Conde and Zyriah Price have all played substantial minutes for Siena, with the former three starting at least one game.

“I’ve never treated them like freshmen,” Primm told The Next on Oct. 18. “They’re going to have a chance to play a big role if they position themselves properly.”

Specifically, Hooker has been tasked with carrying much of the Saints’ offensive load, as they aim to play at a rapid pace. As the point guard, she’s the primary facilitator. Her five assists are third on the team, only behind graduate guard Ahniysha Jackson and sophomore guard Eszter Turi.

In scoring, Jackson and senior forward Anajah Brown lead the way, as expected, but Traore and Conde are third and fourth on the team in scoring as of Nov. 17.

So far, Siena is winless. It’s played Army, Washington and Penn, and like every team, the Saints are learning a lot about themselves. “We’re getting better each and every day,” Jackson told The Next. “We have to stay consistent.”

For Hooker, her minutes have continued to go up as the schedule has progressed. With that, she’s been able to get better reads on the floor and smoothly run Primm’s offense. “I try to create for my team,” Hooker told The Next.

With Seppala’s impending return and Siena’s non-conference schedule lightening up, the Saints are in a prime position to start stringing together some wins heading into MAAC play. A lot of that will depend on the production of the freshmen.

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Fairfield is human

The Fairfield Stags went 31-2 last year. Their only two losses were to Vanderbilt and Indiana, which happened in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But three games in 2024-25, Fairfield already has two losses to Richmond and Oklahoma State.

Granted, it could be chalked up to a much harder non-conference schedule than last year, but those losses still showed weaknesses in the Stags’ game that MAAC teams can take advantage of.

One of those difficulties is in its length; Fairfield is not a tall team, its tallest player being sophomore Karly Fischer, a 6’2 road runner (the term the Stags use instead of forward).

Against Richmond, that weakness was exposed. The Spiders have 12 players over 6’0 that were able to intrude on the Stags passing lanes and defend the post. In the end, Richmond forced 24 Fairfield turnovers to go with 13 steals.

“That’s not our game, that’s not how we play,” sophomore road runner Meghan Andersen told The Next.

Teams don’t have to be a majority over six-foot to defend Fairfield. But what they do have get into the Stags’ passing lanes and stay on them throughout the night.

Secondly, Fairfield lives and dies by the three. It’s simple math, three points are worth more than two. But what happens when your 3-pointers don’t go in? You lose games. Against Richmond, the Stags shot 16.7% from three and against Oklahoma State they went an improved, but not ideal, 33.3%.

In its one win of the year so far over Arkansas, Fairfield shot 43.3%. Sophomore guards Kaety L’Amoreaux, Jillian Huerter, Andersen, junior guard Sydni Scott and senior guard Kendall McGruder all contributed from beyond the arc.

But Richmond defended Fairfield incredibly well; the Spiders kept their players on Fairfield’s throughout the entire contest and they rarely allowed them to get open looks which led to the Stags 16.7% mark.

“We rushed some [3-pointers] early, and then we got spooked when we missed some,” Fairfield head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis told The Next.

Fairfield is a really good team, and it will challenge for the MAAC title again. But anyone scouting the Stags should make sure to manage them from three and get into their passing lanes.

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A different kind of big

After a shaky first game against Drexel, Marist is starting to fire on all cylinders. Its guard play, comprising redshirt junior guard Lexie Tarul, junior guard Jackie Piddock, sophomore guard Julia Corsentino and freshman guards Danielle Williamsen and Chloe Escanillas, has been performing well.

Specifically, Tarul is averaging 13.7 points per game on 45.5% shooting from the field. But she’s not who the offense is centered around, or the Red Foxes’ main contributor. That title belongs to junior center Morgan Lee.

In Marist’s two wins so far, Lee scored 14 points on perfect shooting beyond the arc over Cornell and racked up a double-double against Lafayette.

“Morgan’s a special player,” head coach Erin Doughty told The Next. “When the ball is in her hands, good things happen for us.”

The Georgetown transfer’s game is all-encompassing. Lee can post-up, shoot 3-pointers, pass and rebound (she leads the team on the glass.) Lee stands at 6’5, tying her for the second-tallest player in the MAAC with Iona junior center Ally Carman. Both are behind Quinnipiac’s junior center Khadijah Tungo who is listed at 6’6.

Because of Lee’s height, team’s often double team her on defense, but Lee’s passing ability breaks that: “When I do get the ball, I’m either going to make a move or I’m going to draw enough people to help out my teammates,” Lee told The Next.

The only downside to her game is that she often gets into foul trouble. In the win over Cornell, Lee fouled three times in the first half, limiting her minutes throughout the contest. If she can minimize her fouls, Marist is in good hands.

Along with its established guard play, Marist is in a decent position to surprise the MAAC and earn some wins once conference play rolls around. Marist next plays at Stony Brook on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.