BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Senior forward Monique Lee (Lynn, Mass.) returned to the Quinnipiac lineup after missing five games due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and scored all 16 of her points in the second half to lead the Bobcats to a come-from-behind, 65-61, victory at Long Island, Monday night at the Wellness Center. At 13-1, Quinnipiac is off to its best conference start in its 10-year history in the Northeast Conference.

With the win, the Bobcats improve to 21-3 (13-1 NEC), while the Blackbirds fall to 19-6 (10-4 NEC). The Bobcats became the first NEC team to defeat LIU on its home court following six straight wins.

Erin Kerner (Erie, Pa.) compiled a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds while Mandy Pennewell (West Chester, Pa.) added 12 points. Nicole Duperron (Fort St. John, British Columbia) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Valerie Nainima scored a game-high 18 points for LIU while Connie James and Sara Oblak added 10 points apiece. Not to be overlooked was Brianna Rooney’s (Guilford, Conn.) defense on Nainima, the reigning NEC Player of the Year. Rooney held Nainima to 4-for-16 shooting from the floor.

The Bobcats trailed by 16 points at the 17-minute mark of the second half, but went on a 16-3 run to tie the game, 54-54, at the 7:22 mark on a nifty post move by Lee. Chelsi Johnson hit a three on the next LIU possession to provide LIU with a three-point cushion.

Lee then scored nine straight Quinnipiac points, including a conventional three-point play, hitting a fade-away jumper from 12 feet off the right block to put the Bobcats up for good with 45 seconds left. Oblak took an off-balance shot from just inside the top of the key that would not fall. After Duperron made one of two free throws to give QU a 64-61 lead, LIU missed a pair of three-point opportunities. Duperron made the front end of a one-and-one with 2.5 seconds left to ice the game.  

After the game went back-and-forth for the first nine minutes, LIU took control for the remainder of the first half. A 12-2 run midway through the period helped the Blackbirds open an 11-point lead, 26-15, at the 7:04 mark.

The lead swelled to 16 points, 39-23, on Sara Oblak’s jumper at the 2:39 mark. Both teams shot 50 percent in the first half, but the Blackbirds took eight more shots, the byproduct of 13 Bobcat turnovers. The Blackbirds turned the ball over just four times. LIU scored 15 points off turnovers, while the Bobcats had just four points off turnovers.

Nainima and Pennewell scored 10 points each in the first half to lead all scorers. Oblak added eight while Connie James and Justine Stevenson added seven points apiece. Courtney Kaminski (Dudley, Mass.) and Kerner (Erie, Pa.) had six apiece for Quinnipiac.

For the game, Quinnipiac outshot the Blackbirds, 52.0 percent (26-50) to 35.1 (20-57). The Bobcats also outrebounded the Blackbirds, 37-32.