Matt A. Mariani, Basketball Beat Reporter

Concluding the 2025-26 women’s basketball season, Head Coach Tricia Fabbri announced her retirement after 31 seasons with the Bobcats. With big shoes to fill, Quinnipiac hired Roman Owen, who previously was the associate head coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

Owen has worked for numerous collegiate basketball programs since 2008 and in women’s basketball since 2010, when he was the Mid-America Christian University head coach. His longest stint came at UNLV, where he coached from 2020 until 2026. UNLV had a 149-41 record with Owen on the staff.

He helped lead the Lady Rebels to four Mountain West regular-season titles. They  won three tournament championships during his six seasons. The Lady Rebels made the NCAA tournament three straight seasons in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Quinnipiac’s last NCAA tournament appearance came in 2018, and in the 2017 season they made the Sweet 16 as the 12th seed.

Quinnipiac’s women’s basketball program has been one of the best programs on campus over the past few seasons, but has not been able to get back to the NCAA tournament. The team won the MAAC regular-season title, posting a 19-1 record in conference play and a 27-7 record in total in the 2025-26 season. The team fell short of making the March Madness bracket, losing to No.2 Fairfield, 51-44, but this creates room for improvement for the new head coach. 

“This is Day 1, you guys have had a heck of a program. Can’t wait to build on the success and go compete for championships and play in the postseason,” Owen said in a post on X (QU_WBB). 

On April 16, Quinnipiac announced the university  would add Amaya West as the assistant coach of the women’s basketball team. West spent last season as the video coordinator for UNLV, on the same staff with Owen. She played professional basketball in Ireland and was a 1,000-point scorer during three seasons at University of Nevada, Reno, and one season at Fresno State. 

Owen has said he is excited to join Quinnipiac and is ready for the opportunity, as well as the chance to build on the legacy Fabbri has left.