Two Wins and a Couple of Close Contests Come Out of Monday

After a rough first day back from the holiday break on Sunday (America East teams went 0-5) teams appeared to have shook the rust free by Monday. UMBC and Stony Brook both picked up wins at their respective tournament's consolation games in Virginia and Los Angeles. Freshman Michelle Kurowski scored a team-high 18 points for the Retrievers to help UMBC pick up the W over Rider (76-55) in its last tune-up before the conference slate. Sophomore Kirsten Jeter was Stony Brook's player of the game against San Jose State with 15 points, six rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. It was the Seawolves' best defensive effort of the year, holding their opponent to just 38 points.

Vermont played #18/20 Florida tough Monday night at the State Farm Classic in Gainesville, but fell 85-76 despite a game-high 25 points from junior May Kotsopoulos. The Catamounts will now play former America East member Towson in the consolation game Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Earlier on Monday, Maine fell to Drexel, 87-55, New Hampshire dropped to Morehead State, 76-43, in Louisville, and Albany fell to Montana State, 75-71, at the Battle at the Border in Edinburgh, Texas.

The Wildcats play #10/13 Louisville in the third day of the Louisville Tournament at 7 p.m., while Binghamton returns to the court at Sacred Heart also tonight. At 2 p.m. today, Boston University will try to improve to 14 straight home court wins when St. John's pays a visit to Case Gym.

Holiday's Over For Five Teams On Sunday

After a long holiday break, five teams have to get back to business on Sunday, all on the road. As is customary for this period between Christmas and New Year's, America East teams are off at holiday tournaments all over the country.

Stony Brook gets the prize for most mileage as the Seawolves are out in Los Angeles playing in the Loyola Marymount Holiday Classic. They play former America East-member Delaware Sunday at 8 p.m. EST. The Seawolves and the Blue Hens join the Duke Blue Devils as the only east coast teams ever to participate in this tournament. Funny thing is, these two schools who are separated by just 192 miles, will travel 5,565 combined miles one-way to play this non-conference game, and 11,130 miles round trip.

The Wildcats will be the third America East team to play at Louisville's Freedom Hall during the month of December, joining Vermont and Hartford, when they take on Central Michigan Sunday at 1:30 p.m. New Hampshire will also face host #10/#13 Louisville and Morehead State in the Louisville Tournament. UMBC is participating in the Marriott Cavalier Classic hosted by #15 Virginia and will start it off with Louisiana Tech Sunday at 2 p.m. Also on Sunday, Maine plays at Saint Joseph's at 4 p.m. and Albany faces host UTPA in the Battle at the Border Tournament. The Great Danes tip-off at 6 p.m. EST.

Vermont's Rosenkrantz Selected Finalist For Academic Honor

University of Vermont senior guard Amy Rosenkrantz is among America East leaders at 15th in scoring and 6th in rebounding. She's also among the nation's leaders in the classroom. Rosenkrantz, a member of the 2007-08 America East All-Academic Team, was selected a finalist for the Lowe's senior CLASS women's basketball award. 30 men's basketball players and 30 women's basketball players were named finalists earlier this week. Once a national committee narrows down the list to 10 candidates, the ballot will be open to college basketball fans to vote here.

Kurowski's Getting Noticed

The three-time America East Rookie of the Week, UMBC guard Michelle Kurowski, was featured by Newsday's Marcus Henry in Sunday's hometown spotlight. Kurowski comes from Hicksville, N.Y. on Long Island where she is the third-highest scorer in the area's girls basketball history with 2,581 points.

RPI Slips

The America East Conference's RPI slipped one spot from 21 to 22 out of 32 conference's in the unofficial report released this morning. Collegiate Basketball News releases a report each Monday.

Inexperience Proves Valuable

The UMBC Retrievers have nine new faces this year, yet they find themselves atop the America East standings early in the season with a 7-2 mark. They are the most inexperienced team in the conference, but UMBC SID Jessica Bernheim was curious how the Retrievers stacked up in that category with other Division I teams. With a little research and a little help from other Division I SIDs, Jessica came up with the following lists:

Least years of experience (Seniors have three years, juniors have two years, sophomore have one):
1. Tennessee-Martin 5
T2. Idaho 6
T2. San Jose State 6
T4. Tennessee 7
T4. Illinois 7
6. UMBC 8
7. Elon 9
T8. Central Arkansas 11
T8. Arkansas 11
T8. UCF 11
T11. Georgetown 14
T11. Nicholls 14

Most underclassmen (sophomores and freshmen):
1. BYU 14
2. UMBC 13
T3. Elon 12
T3. Northeastern 12
T3. UCF 12
6. Tennessee 11
T7. Green Bay 10
T7. McNeese 10

Surprisingly, little more than half of these teams, including UMBC, have a record of .500 or above and combined these 16 teams have a winning percentage of .503.

The Retrievers put their five-game win streak on the line tonight at James Madison after a 10 day break for final exams. UMBC is the only team in action tonight.

More In Depth Look At Ms. Maine

As reported a couple of weeks ago, former University of Maine basketball standout Ashley Underwood was named Ms. Maine USA and will compete in the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas next April. The Portland Press Herald ran a much more in-depth feature into Underwood's life now, and how she's always dreamed of competing in pageants despite being a tomboy. Underwood still is a regular at Black Bear games, and was in attendance last Sunday in Cambridge when Maine took on Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion.

RPI Ramblings

Collegiate Basketball News puts together an unofficial RPI rankings (by subscription) each week beginning several weeks into the season and right up until the NCAA Championship Selection Special in March. Here are a few thoughts and observations on this week's rankings.

• America East is 21st of 32 conferences in RPI this week, which is the same ranking as the first RPI report last week as well as the final 2007-08 ranking. The league is 10th among non-FBS conferences.
  
• Hartford, as has been the case over the past few years, is the highest America East team in the RPI rankings at 58. The Hawks jumped up from 71 over the past week, despite a loss to #12 Louisville. It appears that playing Louisville actually increased their RPI ranking because it built up their strength of schedule (strength of schedule ranked 70th last week, 29th this week).
• The last time Hartford was not the top-rated team from the America East by the time the season was through? 2004. Maine finished the season at 59, Boston University was 96 and Hartford finished 150.
• Vermont fell from last week, but is still the second-ranked team from the conference at 104. UMBC follows at 128, and Boston U. at 163. Binghamton (232), Albany (291), Maine (293), Stony Brook (303) and New Hampshire (320) round out America East teams.
• America East ranks 20th among 32 conferences in strength of schedule
• Hartford and UMBC each have a win against a team from the RPI top 25. Hartford defeated Duke (16) on a neutral court, while UMBC topped Towson (22) at home. Those victories represent the conference's only top-100 wins.
  

Double Digit Deficits Doom Teams Saturday

A tough slate of ACC, MAAC and Ivy opponents did America East teams in on Saturday, as Boston U., Binghamton and Stony Brook all fell by double digit points on the road. The Terriers fell to MAAC-favorite Marist, 73-62, the Bearcats dropped to Miami (Fla.), 72-37, and the Seawolves lost to Dartmouth, 59-47.

Two home games are scheduled for Sunday afternoon. New Hampshire hosts Northeastern at 1 p.m. and Vermont returns to Patrick Gym to face Kent State at 4 p.m. Maine is in the city for a 2 p.m. match-up with Harvard.

Big East Foes Have No Mercy

A pair of Big East opponents did not treat America East squads kindly Wednesday night. 12th-ranked Louisville, and All-American Angel McCoughtry's triple-double, defeated Hartford in Kentucky, 42-70. In the meantime at the Events Center, Villanova came away the victor against Binghamton, 55-37.

The only game Thursday night is Vermont at Harvard. The tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. It is the second of three straight America East opponents the Crimson will face.

Terriers Take Out Crimson

Boston University cruised by Harvard Tuesday night 80-61. Jesyka Burks-Wiley finished with 23 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal and Aly Hinton chipped in with 11 points, nine boards, two assists, two steals and a block. Boston earned its 13th straight win at Case Gym, moving into a tie for 10th on the NCAA Division I chart for home court win streaks.

New Hampshire was further down the green line at Boston College, but couldn't get overcome the difference in size, falling, 85-43 to the Eagles. Albany fell to NJIT, 58-47, and Maine dropped a close game to Hofstra on Long Island, 60-56, despite Amanda Tewksbury's season-high 16 points.

Wednesday night brings two more games against Big East opponents. Hartford is at Louisville and Binghamton plays host to Villanova. The Bearcats' game will be televised regionally by Time Warner. Both of those games tip-off at 7 p.m.

Stony Brook Gets Over The Hump

The Stony Brook Seawolves became the last America East team to pick up its first win of the 2008-09 season, and they did it in dramatic fashion. Down for most of the game, and down by a game-high 11 points at the 10:48 mark of the second half, the Seawolves staged a comeback win, 73-68, over Yale at Pritchard Gym. Stony Brook's bench outscored the visitors' bench players, 37-9, led by Destiny Jacobs' 13 points.

UMBC improved to 7-2 this season with a win Monday night as well. The Retrievers handed Coppin State its 7th loss of the year, 76-63. Carlee Cassidy did most of her damage in the second half, but finished with a game-high 28 points.

Cassidy Third In Scoring Nationally

This week's NCAA national DI rankings came out this afternoon and there are some America East players making a significant impact in some of the categories. UMBC junior Carlee Cassidy is ranked third nationally in scoring with 23.9 points per game.

Binghamton's Laura Franceski is 5th in blocks (3.3 bpg), Hartford's Diana Delva is 5th in field goal percentage (63.8%), and Boston University's Kristi Dini is 5th in three-pointers (3.3 treys per game).

Additionally, the Retrievers' 78.8 points per game is 14th in the country. That's ahead of some of the nation's elite teams such as #3 Stanford, #10 Baylor, #11 Duke, #12 Louisville, #17 Virginia #18 Ohio State and #19 TCU. UMBC will try to continue that trend when they play host to winless Coppin State tonight at 7 p.m. Stony Brook is the only other team in action tonight. They play Yale at Pritchard Gym at 6 p.m.

Three Wins Come Early on Saturday

The Hartford Hawks, Vermont Catamounts and Binghamton Bearcats all won their early afternoon games on Saturday. Highlighting the early going was Catamount Courtnay Pilypaitis' second career triple-double at home in Vermont's 71-53 win over Holy Cross. The junior guard scored 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Diana Delva followed up her 30-point performance Wednesday night with 20 points and nine rebounds against St. Joseph's. Hartford extended their home win streak to 29 games, the longest in the nation, with an 80-56 win. Binghamton won on the road at La Salle, 53-47. It is the Bearcats' second straight win. Senior forward Laura Franceski finished with 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and three blocks.

Stony Brook and Northeastern are still finishing business on Long Island, and UMBC hosts Towson tonight at a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Wildcats Win #1 On The Season

University of New Hampshire won its first game of the 2008-09 season, an 89-61 decision at Colgate Friday night. Five different Wildcats hit double figures, including junior Amy Simpson with a game-high 24 points. UNH shot 61.8% from the field and hit 14 treys for the game.

Five teams are in action Saturday. Hartford hosts St. Joseph's for a 1 p.m. game on NESN. The Hawks will try to extend their home win streak to 29 games. Also, Binghamton is at La Salle for a 1 p.m. tipoff, Holy Cross and Vermont face-off in Patrick Gym at 1:00, Northeastern is at Stony Brook for a 2 p.m. game, and UMBC hosts Towson beginning at 7 p.m.

UMBC, Boston U. and Maine Win At Home

UMBC defeated Navy, 85-77, in the first half of a women's-men's doubleheader in Catonsville. The win was backed by junior Carlee Cassidy's 32 points and freshman Michelle Kurowski's 30 points. The Terriers also won on their home court, 81-54 over Brown, extending their win streak at Case Gym to 15 games. Maine picked up its first win of the season at Alfond Arena over NEC foe Robert Morris, 54-52.

New Hampshire, Stony Brook, Albany and Hartford all fell Wednesday night against Harvard, Sacred Heart, Army, and Quinnipiac, respectively. Thursday is an off day and the Wildcats travel to face Colgate in the only game featured Friday night.

Two TV Games Highlight Wednesday

While Albany picked up its first win of the season, 62-49 over Detroit on Monday night, and Binghamton won on the road at Niagara, 83-65 earlier that day, all nine teams are off Tuesday.

Seven teams are in action Wednesday. UMBC hosts Navy at home in a game televised by MASN. Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m. Hartford travels to Quinnipiac for an 8:00 contest to be aired on NESN. Also, Brown is at Boston U., Robert Morris is at Maine, Stony Brook is at Sacred Heart and New Hampshire is at Harvard, all beginning at 7 p.m.

Former Maine Hoops Standout Named Ms. Maine USA

Former University of Maine women's basketball star Ashley Underwood ('07) was named 2009 Ms. Maine USA over the weekend and will compete in the Ms. USA pageant in Las Vegas in April. Underwood holds several America East records, including best free-throw percentage in a season (.925, 2004-05).

UMBC's Brooks Named MOP of Iona Classic

UMBC freshman guard Katie Brooks, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Iona Thanksgiving Classic where the Retrievers went 2-0. UMBC completed the undefeated weekend with a 92-70 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. Junior guard Carlee Cassidy and freshman guard Michelle Kurowski were also named to the all-tournament team. Boston U. and Vermont both dropped contests on Sunday to Central Michigan and St. John's, respectively.

Two teams are in action on Monday. Binghamton kicks off the December schedule with an 11 a.m. contest at Niagara. Albany will host Detroit-Mercy at SEFCU Arena at 5 p.m.

Hartford, Vermont Win Friday

Hartford defeated the Big South Champions, Liberty, 46-39, Friday afternoon in the George Washington Tournament and will play the Colonials Saturday at 5:30 p.m. for the tournament trophy. Erica Beverly posted her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 boards in the victory. Vermont also posted a win, 69-50 over Manhattan. The Catamounts have now won three-straight games after losing the first game of the TD Banknorth Classic in Burlington.

Three other teams played on Friday as New Hampshire fell to Long Island, 74-60, Stony brook dropped a match to St. John's, 61-49, and Brown upended Maine, 65-52, in Orono.

Seven teams are in action Saturday. Maine, Albany and Binghamton are at home, while New Hampshire, Boston U., UMBC and Hartford are all in tournament action on the road.

America East Splits Wednesday Night Games

Vermont defeated Providence, 73-67, Wednesday night at Patrick Gym in the Catamounts' second straight overtime affair. Junior guard May Kotsopoulos scored a game-high 25 points, including 24 in the second half and overtime period.

Albany fell at Colgate, 48-46, in the only other game before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Upset Sparks National Attention

Hartford's upset over then-fifth-ranked Duke last Friday night has swept across the national women's basketball scene. Hawks head coach Jen Rizzotti is featured in the most recent episode of the "Shootaround with Beth & Debbie" podcast discussing the win.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma also had some kind words for Rizzotti's program after his own team's win over Rhode Island, just stopping short of naming "Rizzotti For President".

Boston U. Comes Back To Win

The Terriers, who faced a double-digit deficit in the second half, rallied to defeat Northeastern, 71-68, at Matthews Arena in a cross-town rivalry. Senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley notched a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while classmate Kristi Dini hit five treys and a foul shot for 16 points on the night.

Hartford continued on a 10-day road trip in Columbus, Ohio, dropping a 63-45 contest to the #20/21 Buckeyes. Also on Tuesday night, Binghamton fell to Duquesne at home, 68-56.

Before teams break for the Thanksgiving holiday, Vermont hosts Providence at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Albany treks to Hamilton to play Colgate at 5 p.m.

Vermont Uses 3OTs to Defeat Dartmouth

Vermont defeated Dartmouth in the consolation round of the TD Banknorth Classic, 82-77, taking three overtime periods to do so. Junior May Kotsopoulos finished with a game-high 24 points, along with five assists and three steals. Junior Courtnay Pilypaitis netted 21 points, while senior Amy Rosenkrantz finished with her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Maine picked up its first win of the season, a 54-45 victory over UMass at the Augusta Civic Center. Kristin Baker filled her stat sheet with 16 points, five rebounds, six assists and a steal.

Also around the America East, Binghamton dropped Bryant at the Events Center, 68-61, led by Darryll Peterson's career-high 16 points. Boston U. fell to Portland at the KCRG-TV9 Tournament in Iowa City, Iowa, 62-74, to fall to 2-2 on the season.

Hartford Stuns #5/6 Duke

The Hartford Hawks defeated the Duke Blue Devils Friday night, 53-51. Junior Lisa Etienne scored a game-high 15 points, while also recording 7 steals, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. The victory marks the fourth straight year Hartford has defeated a ranked opponent, and the highest-ranked team to fall victim to the Hawks.

UMBC also picked up a tournament win Friday night, defeating Northern Illinois at the Seton Hall Tournament, 88-73. Binghamton fell to Portland State in their home opener, 62-52.

The Hawks will play the host DePaul Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET to decide the tournament Champion, while the Retrievers also play for a tournament trophy against Seton Hall at 3 p.m. Boston University is in Iowa and will face the Hawkeyes at 1 p.m. Saturday in the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Classic, Vermont hosts Quinnipiac at 1 p.m. in the first round of the TD Banknorth Catamount Classic, Albany host Richmond at 1 p.m., and Stony Brook continues its five-game road trip at Princeton at 6 p.m.

ESPN.com Labels Two AE Games Weekend's Top To Watch

ESPN.com's women's basketball blog included Friday's Duke-Hartford match-up and Saturday's Quinnipiac at Vermont contest as two of it's top 15 games of the weekend to watch.

Boston U. Wins Big Over Siena

Jesyka Burks-Wiley scored a game-high 20 points to lead Boston University to an 84-62 win over Siena in its home opener . Amarac Umez-Eronini added 18, while Kristi Dini tallied 14 points, five rebounds and four steals for the Terriers, who canned half of their 3-point attempts (9-of-18). In other action, Kristin Baker stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but Maine fell at Central Connecticut State, 65-57.

Three America East squads take floor on Friday. Hartford takes on No. 5/6 Duke in the first game of DePaul's tournament at 6:30. Binghamton hosts Portland St. at the Events Center in its home opener at 7, while UMBC faces Northern Illinois in the Seton Hall Basketball Classic at 8.

UMBC, Binghamton Pick Up First Wins

The UMBC Retrievers poured in 89 points in their home opener to pick up their first win of the season over George Mason, 89-60. Junior Carlee Cassidy and freshman Michelle Kurowski each drained 22 points and combined for five three pointers. Kurowski also rebounded eight balls. The Bearcats were on the road at Colgate and defeated the host Raiders, 66-41. Junior guard Muffy Sadler scored a game-high 18 points. Binghamton forced 22 turnovers, while giving the ball up themselves only eight times.

In other action tonight, Albany fell in a close game to Ivy-League Champion Cornell, 50-46, New Hampshire dropped one on the road to the UMass Minutewomen, 67-51, and Stony Brook was defeated by Penn State, 97-58, in State College.

Thursday night's action pits Boston University at home against Siena College and Maine at Central Connecticut State. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

Hartford Wins 28th Straight at Home

Diana Delva and Lisa Etienne each scored 17 points as Hartford defeated Providence, 69-50, on Tuesday to extend the Hawks' home winning streak to 28 games, the longest streak in Division I.

A quintet of games can be found on the America East schedule Wednesday. UMBC plays its home opener when the Retrievers host George Mason. Albany and Binghamton stay in-state but travel to Cornell and Colgate, respectively. New Hampshire is at Massachusetts and Stony Brook is at Penn State. All games start at 7.

Three America East Teams Fall

America East teams faced three perennial NCAA Tournament participants on Sunday. Former Maine head coach Joanne McCallie's No. 8 Duke Blue Devils defeated the Black Bears 98-31 at Durham. Michigan State defeated Stony Brook, 72-42 in East Lansing. Marist downed Albany, 74-56 at Poughkeepsie.

Each of the nine America East teams will take Monday off before defending America East Champion Hartford returns to action when the Hawks entertain Providence on Tuesday at 7.

ESPN.com: Hartford Still Has It

Graham Hayes of ESPN.com wrote in his column Saturday that Hartford is still the team to beat in America East and should be considered among the top mid-major programs in the country.

Hartford Unveils Banner, Cruises Past Dartmouth

The Hartford Hawks unveiled the 2008 America East Championship banner prior to this afternoon's game against Dartmouth at Chase Arena and then proceeded to defeat the Big Green, 73-40. Junior Diana Delva was named the player of the game after posting game highs with 15 points and eight rebounds. Also in action was UMBC who fell to George Washington, 75-56, despite getting a career-best 31 points from Carlee Cassidy.

Tomorrow's action is highlighted by University of Maine's trip down to North Carolina to face eighth-ranked Duke, coached by former Black Bear mentor Joanne McCallie-Palombo. That game begins at 12 p.m., along with Stony Brook's contest at Michigan State. Later in the day, Albany returns from their west-coast trip to take on the MAAC preseason favorite Marist in Poughkeepsie at 4 p.m., televised live on Time Warner.

Vermont, Boston U. Wins Highlight Opening Night

Courtnay Pilypaitis scored 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Amy Rosenkrantz added 24 points as Vermont defeated Massachusetts, 83-69, Friday night. Jesyka Burks-Wiley netted 16 points and added nine rebounds as Boston University also opened the season with a victory, posting a 50-45 win at Rhode Island.

In other games, Albany fell 63-39 at No. 9 Cal, Quinnpiac defeated Stony Brook, 59-45, Bryant won 69-66 at New Hampshire, and St. Bonaventure downed Binghamton, 66-51.

Two former America East Champions are in action on Saturday. Defending champion Hartford will unveil its 2008 title banner prior to its game vs. Dartmouth. UMBC, which won the America East Championship in 2007, plays at perennial Atlantic-10 power George Washington. Both games are at 2.

Pilypaitis a Player to Watch by ESPN.com

Graham Hays of ESPN.com has posted his list of teams and players to watch in 2008-09 and cites Courtnay Pilypaitis of Vermont as one of "five hidden gems" at the mid-major level.

22 Seconds With Courtnay Pilypaitis

University of Vermont junior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis, a preseason mid-major All-American and reigning America East Player of the Year, was recently featured on Burlington's Fox News Affililate in a segment called "22 Seconds With A Catamount" that will feature a different UVM athlete each week. Check out the guard's rapid-fire responses here.

Season Commences Friday

Six America East teams are in action Friday as the basketball season begins. Preseason favorite Vermont plays host to UMass at 6 p.m. Stony Brook opens at home vs. Quinnipiac at 5 p.m. and New Hampshire entertains Bryant at 7 p.m. The other three America East teams take to the road as Albany travels cross country to play Cal (4 p.m. ET), Boston University is at Rhode Island (5 p.m.) and Binghamton is at St. Bonaventure (5 p.m.).