Thursday, February 26, 2009

All About The Triples

Albany's Britney McGee went off for a career-high 30 points Wednesday night, including 7 three-pointers, leading the Great Danes to the 92-80 win over UMBC and snapping Albany's 10-game losing streak. Her fifth triple of the night pushed her into sole possession of second-place on the program's all-time three-pointer list. She now only trails alumnus Jen Schumacher's 197, which McGee should be able to eclipse during her senior season next year. UMBC was led in the game by freshman Michelle Kurowski's 25 points, while the league's leading scorer, Carlee Cassidy, was held to 4 points.

Despite leading for much of the way, Stony Brook fell victim to UNH in the end, 50-49. Junior Candace Williams paced the Wildcats with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but freshman Lauren Wells and junior Amy Simpson also ended up in double figures. Williams also added 3 blocks on the night. The Seawolves led in several categories, including steals (11-1), turnovers (9 against UNH's 20) and bench points (15-12), but ultimately, New Hampshire's rebounding (53-30) gave it the late-game surge to take its first lead of the game with 3 seconds remaining in the contest.

The third game of the night resulted in Vermont's fifth-straight win, 61-44 over Maine. Sy Janousek went 5-for-6 from behind the arc and finished with a team-high 17 points. Courtnay Pilypaitis ended up with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for another well-balanced night. The Catamount defense, which has proved to shut down conference opponents better than anybody else in the league, forced 20 turnovers and 13 steals, while limiting Maine's leading scorer, Brittany Boser to just 5 field goal attempts and and 2 points. Senior Colleen Kilmurray recorded a game-high 19 points for the Black Bears and pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Dini's Three Huge In Thriller

Kristi Dini's 77th three-pointer of the season with 7 seconds left in regulation of last night's Boston University-Hartford game was doubly huge. The drained trey not only broke the America East single-season record (in 5 fewer games than the previous record), it also tied the game and sent it into overtime. The Terriers eventually won the game, 80-75, to give the Hawks their second consecutive home-court overtime loss and snap their 40-game conference home win streak. Both senior guard Christine Kinneary and rookie guard Alex Young registered career highs of 27 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the Terriers in the victory. On the other side, Hartford's Erica Beverly finished with 13 points and a career-high 16 points. The Boston U. win gave the Terriers the tiebreaker over the Hawks if there's a tie at the end of the season, and a win on Sunday at home against Maine would officially clinch at least a share of the regular season title.

The same record that Dini set Tuesday night could be eclipsed as soon as tonight, as Carlee Cassidy and the Retrievers travel to Albany to face the Great Danes at 7 p.m. Dini and Cassidy entered the week each needing 3 treys to break the record, tied with 74 each on the season. Here are all of tonight's match-ups:

Vermont at Maine 7 p.m.
The Catamounts have won four in a row and six of their last seven games... The Black Bears are coming off a homestand in which they went a solid 2-1... Vermont won the first match-up this season, 86-51... Maine junior Brittany Boser leads the conference with a free-throw percentage of .847.

*UMBC at Albany 7 p.m.
The Retrievers beat the Great Danes, 76-63, in Baltimore earlier this season... UMBC junior Carlee Cassidy needs four more treys to break the America East single-season three-pointers made record, while Albany's Britney McGee needs four triples to move into a tie for second-place for the school career record... Cassidy and McGee are 2nd and 3rd, respectively, this season in the conference for 3's made.

*Stony Brook at New Hampshire 7 p.m.
The Seawolves and Wildcats are tied for 6th-place in the league standings, with UNH having the tie-breaker with the 75-65 win over Stony Brook earlier this season... Stony Brook sophomore Kirsten Jeter has a 7-game double-figure streak intact, during which she's surpassed 20 points three times... UNH junior Candace Williams leads AE with 8 rebounds per game.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

We've Been Down This Road Before

Tonight's Boston U.-Hartford game is nothing we haven't seen before. This will be the 5th time over the past 2 seasons, 7th over the past 3 seasons, and 10th time over the past 4 seasons that the Terriers and Hawks have met, and one could argue that each of these meetings, if not all of them, had a lot on the line. This one should be no different, with the winner more than likely taking the top seed for the tournament and the regular season crown.

The Terriers defeated the Hawks earlier this year, 76-65 at Case Gym, but Boston did the same last year before falling to Hartford twice at Chase Arena, once in the regular season and once in the Championship title game. But this year, the Terriers have four starting seniors and are riding a 13 game winning streak into West Hartford with a 12-0 record in America East play. The Hawks meanwhile return to Chase for the first time since having Marist snap their 34-game home court winning streak, in overtime, on February 15. What would a second straight loss at home do to the Hawks' confidence? Or will the last loss at home, as well as the loss to the Terriers back in January, drive the momentum for the Hawks?

If Boston U. wins tonight, and gets through the remaining schedule of Maine, at UMBC, and Albany unscathed, the Terriers will win the regular season title and enter the tournament in Hartford as the #1 seed. If Hartford wins tonight, and both teams win out (the Hawks go to Stony Brook and play Vermont and New Hampshire at home), there will be a tie for first-place, co-champions will be named, and the Hawks will actually get the #1 seed based on College RPI Report ratings.

When the Hawks and Terriers tip-off at 7 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet tonight (Leah Secondo and Kara Wolters on the call) there will be a lot on the line. But isn't there always when these two teams play?

Friday, February 20, 2009

Pink Zone Events Continue This Weekend

This weekend's games will feature three more Pink Zone events at University at Albany, Binghamton University and UMBC. So far, America East teams have raised over $16,000 for the campaign against breast cancer. The schedule of all America East schools' Pink Zone games are posted on the league web site, along with more information on the campaign.

After this past week's games, we have a log jam in the middle of the league standings with records of 5-7 or 4-7. With only 5 games remaining, this weekend should hopefully begin to spread the pack out. The match-ups for Saturday and Sunday are:

Saturday, February 21
Hartford at Albany 2 p.m.
The Hawks defeated the Great Danes, 73-47, at Chase Arena when these two teams met earlier this season... On January 31, Hartford junior Diana Delva had one of her best-shooting games of the year, going 8-for-10 from the field... Albany freshman Tabitha Makopondo has been ripping down 6.1 rebounds per AE contest to lead the team.

Maine at Binghamton 2 p.m.
Binghamton is looking to snap a three-game losing streak against Maine, who the Bearcats defeated earlier this year, 62-49... Binghamton, the best three-point shooting team in the conference (.349) is going up against the second-stingiest three-point defense in the league in Maine (.302).

Stony Brook at UMBC 7 p.m.
The Seawolves, half a game behind the Retrievers in the AE standings with 5 games remaining, won the first match-up this season, 78-62... Stony Brook sophomore Kirsten Jeter scored her career-high 24 points in that game and hit 10 field goals... Led by junior Carlee Cassidy's 2.9, UMBC leads the conference with 6.2 three's per game.

Sunday, February 22
New Hampshire at Vermont 1 p.m.
In Durham on February 1, the Catamouts upended the Wildcats, 69-48... Vermont and UNH are two of four teams in the conference to have two players in the top 10 of scoring (Candace Williams, 3rd, 15.8 ppg; Courtnay Pilypaitis, 4th, 14.5; May Kotsopoulos, 5th, 13.8; Amy Simpson, 9th, 12.3)... Pilypaitis and Williams also rank 1-2 in rebounding with 7.9 and 7.7 per game.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Crazy Finish In Binghamton

If you weren't inside the Events Center Wednesday night, and were just following along with the live stats, you would have gone to bed believing the outcome of the Binghamton-Boston University game was different than what actually took place. The live stats showed a 75-74 overtime win for the Bearcats, who finally welcomed senior center Laura Franceski back to the lineup from off the bench. The ACTUAL outcome was a 76-75 win for the Terriers, extending their win streak to 13 games and improving their AE record to 12-0.

Binghamton's Jackie Ward hit a field goal with 7 seconds left in the overtime period to put the Bearcats ahead, 75-73. The shot sunk just as the shot clock expired and the horn consequently went off, which was confused with the horn indicating the end of the game. Unfortunately, the Bearcats bench confused it with just that and rushed the court in celebration. Boston U. still had a shot to win the game, and because of the premature celebration and a technical foul, was given two foul shots. Aly Hinton hit one of two, the Terriers controlled the rebound, and senior Amarachi Umez-Eronini drove to the basket to secure the game-winning layup. Umez-Eronini was the hero of the game, not only scoring the winning two points, but finishing with 11 points, a career-high 11 assists, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Hinton and senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley each netted 20 points.

In other action, Maine salvaged the split with Albany, defeating the Great Danes, 59-51 up at Alfond Arena. Black Bear Colleen Kilmurray earned Maine's AE Player of the Game with 11 points and 9 rebounds, while Kristin Baker finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore Janea Aiken scored a game-high 19 points for the Great Danes on 8-of-15 shooting.

Hartford returned from Baltimore with another decisive win over the UMBC Retrievers, 72-43. The Hawks outshot the Retrievers, 45% to 24%, and put an end to junior Carlee Cassidy's 31-game double-figure scoring streak, as she only record 4 points in 27 minutes. Hartford's Ilicia Mathis tallied a agme-high 17 points on 6-of-12 from the field. Junior Erica Beverly led the Hawks with 9 rebounds. Freshman Michelle Kurowski was the only Retriever in double-figures, finishing with a team-high 10 points on the night.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Poles Puts Up Big Numbers For Vermont

Vermont senior forward Kelli Poles ripped down 19 rebounds and scored 11 points in the Catamounts' 69-53 win at Stony Brook on Tuesday night. It was the second straight big game for Poles, as she was named America East Player of the Game last Saturday against Albany as well. The Seawolves, who were hosting their Pink Zone game and were wearing pink uniforms, got 23 points out of sophomore Kirsten Jeter, but nobody else stepped up to join her in double-digit points. Vermont junior May Kotsopoulos tallied a team-high 14 points, while junior Courtnay Pilypaitis netted 13 points and handed out 7 helpers to remain the league's assists-leader.

On tap for Wednesday night is Albany at Maine (7 p.m.), Hartford at UMBC (7 p.m.) and Boston U. at Binghamton (7 p.m.). All the home teams will be trying to salvage a split of the regular season series.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Visiting Teams Prevail in Pink Zone Games

Weekend action wrapped up on Sunday with three Pink Zone games, two of them televised. UMBC beat Maine, 77-74, at Alfond Arena on a regionally-televised game on WABI in Maine, while Boston U. swept New Hampshire at Lundholm Gym, 75-53.

Kristi Dini led the Terriers to their 12th straight win with a game-high 20 points, including 6 three-pointers. Fellow senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley finished the afternoon with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Racheal Fowler paced New Hampshire with 14 points and 6-of-7 field goal shooting. Leading scorer and rebounder Candace Williams was held to 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Up in Orono, the Black Bears were looking for their first consecutive wins this season, however it was the Retrievers who stopped a skid. Carlee Cassidy rebounded from a quiet first half to finish with a game-high 22 points. Freshman Katie Brooks came off the bench to contribute 21 points, while rookie Erin Brown added 16 points to the winning cause. Maine outrebounded UMBC, 52-37, and had 4 players in double-figure points, put it wasn't enough. Junior Brittany Boser posted 21 points and 12 rebounds, while senior Colleen Kilmurray pulled down 10 boards.

Marist defeated Hartford, 78-73, at Chase Arena in overtime, snapping the Hawks' 34 game winning streak at Chase Arena. The game featured 10 ties and 11 score changes and two foul-outs in a hard-fought battle. Hartford junior forward Erica Beverly played 38 minutes, racking up 18 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Lisa Etienne tallied 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for America East Player of the Game honors.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Pink Zone Begins Saturday

The WBCA Pink Zone Initiative officially begins Friday, and the first America East Pink Zone game in Saturday at Vermont as the Catamounts host Albany. Vermont will have lots of "pink" action, including auctions of the Cats' pink uniforms and a ball autographed by both teams. Visit UVM's Pink Zone site to learn more. Stony Brook plays host to Binghamton on Saturday as well in a rematch of what was a shootout in the teams' first meeting this year.

Albany at Vermont 1 p.m.
The Catamounts won the first meeting this season, 77-54... Vermont junior guards Courtnay Pilypaitis and May Kotsopoulos, averaging 14.8 and 14.0 ppg, ranked 4th and 5th in the conference in scoring... The Great Danes are second in the conference in rebounding defense, and third in scoring defense.

Binghamton at Stony Brook 1 p.m.
The first game between these two squads this season resulted in a shootout, 91-86, in Binghamton's favor... In conference play, Stony Brook's Kirsten Jeter is in the top five of scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg)... Binghamton's Andrea Holmes is the top-scoring rookie in league play through 10 games.

Maine Wins; Pink Zone on ESPN2

The University of Maine can breathe a sigh of relief.... kind of. The Black Bears earned their first America East Conference win, a 57-49 victory over New Hampshire, Thursday night, which snapped their 16-game losing streak. It was the first time Cindy Blodgett and company felt that winning feeling since December 3 against Robert Morris. Junior Brittany Boser led Maine with 13 points, while the Black Bear defense played superbly, holding UNH's leading scorer, Candace Williams 0-for-17 from the field.

Maine returns to action for its Pink Zone game on Sunday vs. UMBC at Alfond Arena. That game will be broadcast locally on WABI beginning at 12 p.m. Also being televised on Sunday is a Hartford-Marist Pink Zone match-up on ESPN2, the only mid-major game as part of the network's February Frenzy. The game will be shown in its entirety in the "of-interest region", Connecticut and the New York metropolitan area, while all other regions of the country will cut in and out from Chase Arena, as well as the other 3 games being played nation-wide. For more broadcast information, and more on February Frenzy, check out the ESPN.com story.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Terriers, Hawks and Catamounts Pull Away From The Pack

Teams ranked 1-3 in the conference standings entering Wednesday night pulled ahead from the pack by defeating the teams ranked 4th, 5th and 7th with ease. Boston University leads the group one game ahead of Hartford. Vermont is then two games behind the Hawks. The next team in the standings, Binghamton, is another two games behind the Catamounts and stands in 4th-place with a 5-5 record.

Wednesday night, Boston University upended Stony Brook, 89-71. The Terriers, who never trailed in the game, extended their winning streak to 11 and snapped the Seawolves' winning streak at 3. Senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley led five Terriers in double-figure points with 28 points in addition to 9 rebounds and two steals. Burks-Wiley also went 11-for-13 from the foul line, while Boston U. finished 23-for-29 from the line on the night.

Hartford also had five players in double-figures on its way to a 74-54 win at Binghamton. Freshman Ilicia Mathis led the charge with a game-high 14 points, including 2 treys on 4 attempts. Junior Erica Beverly and senior Lisa Etienne followed with 13 points apiece. Junior Diana Delva and senior Katie Kelley each recorded a team-high 6 rebounds.

Vermont senior Amy Rosenkrantz became the 3rd Catamount to reach 1,000 career points this season in UVM's 73-49 victory over UMBC in Baltimore. Rosenkrantz needed 13 points to reach the mark and she scored game-high-tying 14 points, while also collecting a team-high 8 rebounds and handing out 5 assists. Junior Courtnay Pilypaitis finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.

Thursday night, action continues with New Hampshire traveling north to take on Maine in Orono. Tipoff is at 7:00. The Wildcats won the last match-up, 51-47 behind a big night by junior guard Amy Simpson (17 points, 4 blocks, 5 three-pointers).

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Streaks Collide

Stony Brook is riding a 3-game winning streak, its longest in nearly 2 years. Boston University is in the midst of the longest win streak--10 games--in program history. On Wednesday night, these two streaks will meet face-to-face when the Seawolves visit the Terriers at Case Gym. Stony Brook hung close to Boston U. in the first meeting this year, before dropping the game, 72-59. Amarachi Umez-Eronini, recently named the America East Player of the Week, enters the game with 5 straight double-figure point games, while Seawolf Kirsten Jeter is averaging 14.8 points per game in conference contests.

Stony Brook at Boston U. 7 p.m.
The Terriers have won 10 games overall, 9 conference games, and 5 home games... The Seawolves enter the game on a three-game win streak, their longest such streak since March, 2007... Boston U.'s Kristi Dini and Stony Brook's Jodie Plikus both average 2.4 three-pointers per game against conference opponents.

Vermont at UMBC 7 p.m.
Vermont defeated UMBC in the first meeting of the season, 81-52... The Catamounts have not lost to an AE team below them in the conference standings this year... The Retrievers are 4-0 at the RAC in conference games, and 8-1 overall on the season on their home court.

Hartford at Binghamton 7 p.m.
In West Hartford earlier this season, the Hawks defeated the Bearcats, 63-54... Two of the hottest freshmen in the league in Hartford's Ilicia Mathis and Binghamton's Andrea Holmes will be playing the backcourts at the Events Center. Holmes is averaging 13.9 points per AE contest, while Mathis is netting 11.9 points per conference game.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

UNH Matches Last Year's AE Win Total

In Head Coach Kristin Cole's second year with the University of New Hampshire program, the Wildcats have matched their America East win total from the last two seasons, when they finished 4-12 both years in the conference. Just 9 games into the 2008-09 conference slate, UNH picked up its fourth win with a 73-65 win over visiting UMBC on Sunday. The Wildcats used a 15-0 run in the last 5 minutes of the first half to break away from a 17-17 tie with the Retrievers, and never relinquished the lead. Junior Candace Williams, who led all scorers with 11 points at the intermission, finished with 19 points, for her 23rd straight game in double figures this season. Williams, one of 4 Wildcats in double digits, recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds and handed out 4 assists. Freshman point guard Abigail LaRosa also had a very strong game with her first career double-double of 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. She went 7-for-8 from the foul line, including 5-for-6 in the latter stages of the second half.

The league's leading scorer, UMBC junior guard Carlee Cassidy, came off the bench to net 24 points, leading the Retrievers. One of Cassidy's 4 three-pointers brought UMBC to within 4 points, 68-64 with 45.8 seconds left, but UNH's Williams sunk 1-of-2 free-throws after a Wildcat timeout to seal the home team victory.

Player and Rookie of the Week will be named Monday afternoon and action then returns on Wednesday evening with 3 more games. UMBC will return to Baltimore to host Vermont, while UNH travels to Orono on Thursday night for a rematch with Maine.

Terriers Continue To Roll

Boston University, Hartford and Binghamton all swept season series on Saturday afternoon to start off the second half of the conference season. In the first game of the day, the Terriers won their 10th straight, and 9th consecutive America East game, up in Burlington in an overtime thriller. Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis tied the game at 54-all with a layup at the end of regulation, and then heaved a desperation 3 up at the end of the extra period, but failed to convert the last play, giving Boston U. its second win over the Catamounts this season, 64-61. Terrier senior guard Amarachi Umez-Eronini led the charge with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists. Junior Aly Hinton and senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley both recorded double-doubles. On the Catamount side, Andrea Cihal also finished with a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) to pace Vermont.

For Hartford, who posted its largest margin of victory in the program's Division I history, junior Diana Delva had a well-rounded afternoon of 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 steals and 2 assists. The Hawks extended their home court winning streak to 34 games with the 82-34 victory over Maine at Chase Arena. Black Bear junior point guard Kristin Baker put up a team-high 8 points, while freshman Samantha Baranowski led the effort on the glass with 5 boards.

At the Big Purple Growl in Albany, the Bearcats spoiled the Great Danes's afternoon with a 66-63 victory. Rookie Andrea Holmes tallied a game-high 24 points for Binghamton. The Bearcats scored the final 6 points of the game and Holmes scored 5 of them to cap the game off, while also netting her team's final 9 points. Jaki Goldner, who played in place of senior center Laura Franceski, scored a career-high 13 points with 5 rebounds. Sophomore Janea Aiken continued to be the one Albany looks to on offense, scoring 21 points for a team high. Tiffanie Johnson and Charity Iromuanya also finished in double figure points.

UMBC and UNH meet up in Durham Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. for the second game of their season series. The Retrievers won the first contest, 95-85.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Vermont, Hartford and Albany Host Rematches

Vermont, Maine and Albany have a second chance Saturday as they try to exact revenge on earlier losses this conference season. Saturday's previews are below.

Boston University at Vermont 1 p.m.
The Terriers have taken 3 of the last 4 meetings with the Catamounts, including a 58-47 win in Boston in January... The last match-up in Patrick Gymnasium between these two teams went in favor of the Catamounts, 65-56... Catamount Courtnay Pilypaitis and Terrier Jesyka Burks-Wiley are currently the only active America East members of the 1,000 point/500 rebound club.

Maine at Hartford 2 p.m.
The Hawks defeated the Black Bears, 77-46, up in Alfond earlier this season... Hartford senior MaryLynne Schaefer is eyeing two Black Bears on the America East 3-pointers per game career list, needing 5 more to surpass Ashley Underwood and 14 more to overcome Cindy Blodgett... Maine junior Brittany Boser is 19th in the country with the free-throw mark of 87.5%.

Binghamton at Albany (TW3) 4:30 p.m.
The Great Danes host the Big Purple Growl when the Bearcats come to town... Albany won all three meetings last year, but Binghamton took the first match this season, 67-63... The Great Danes have 3 scorers averaging double-digits, while Erica Carter leads the Bearcats with 10.7 ppg, good for 15th in the conference.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Smarty Pants

Those that work hard will be rewarded. That remains true off court as it does in-game. Late Thursday CoSIDA named the All-District Academic All-Americans in conjunction with ESPN The Magazine. Vermont's May Kotsopoulos and Maine's Brittany Boser were both honored in District I (New York & New England). Kotsopoulos, a business administration major with a 3.62 GPA, was named to the first team, which means she is eligible for the Academic All-American team that will be chosen later this month. Boser, who keeps a 3.85 GPA in chemical engineering, is repeat selection, having earned All-District status as a sophomore as well.

Also, for anybody attending the 2009 America East Championship at Hartford March 12-15, Fan Central is now live. It's the perfect place to find hotels at championship rates and find out more about the city of Hartford.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

School Records Fall Wednesday Night

Three of the four road teams got on the bus Wednesday night winners to close out the first half of the conference season. Two athletes in particular also went home feeling pretty good about themselves. Hartford's Erica Beverly swatted 5 blocks in the Hawks' 59-32 win at New Hampshire to break the school's single-season blocks record. The junior forward surpassed the career blocks record earlier this season already. Beverly also scored 13 points, while freshman guard Ilicia Mathis led Hartford with 16 points.

In Albany, Boston University won their school-record ninth straight game, 78-48 over the Great Danes. Senior point guard Christine Kinneary tallied five handouts and became the program's all-time assists leader. In the process, she also moved into fifth-place in America East history with 477 career assists. She'll now be gunning to pass current Maine coach Cindy Blodgett who finished her career with 487. Senior guard Amarachi Umez-Eronini scored a game-high 17 points to go along with nine rebounds, two assists and three steals to pace the Terriers, while the Albany defense mostly kept forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley in check with just nine points and seven rebounds.

Stony Brook won its season-best third game in a row, 57-39 over Maine, to move into a 6th-place tie in the conference standings at 3-5. Forward Kirsten Jeter, who's been hot averaging 14.8 ppg in AE play, netted a game-high 17 points and added six rebounds, six steals and three blocks. Sophomore Misha Horsey handed out a career-high eight assists. On the defensive side, the Seawolves forced Maine into 35 turnovers and turned them into 24 points.

Vermont and Binghamton entered the Events Center just one game apart in the standings, but the Catamounts flexed their muscles to earn a win on the road, 64-38. Senior Kelli Poles contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds from off the bench for her sixth career double-double, and junior Courtnay Pilypaitis was once again a triple-double threat with 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Of note, the Bearcats were playing without reigning Player of the Week Laura Franceski who had suffered a minor concussion earlier this week at practice. She'll be questionable for Binghamton's game at Albany on Saturday.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Halfway Home

It's hard to believe, but it's February 4 and the conference season is halfway over after tonight. Four games, all at 7 p.m., are scheduled tonight before teams start the second time through. Here are your previews for tonight.

Vermont at Binghamton 7 p.m.
Binghamton defeated Vermont, 73-69, last year at the Events Center and is currently 3-0 at home vs. conference opponents... Catamount Courtnay Pilypaitis is in AE's top three in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg) and assists (5.3 apg)... Bearcat rookies Andrea Holmes and Viive Rebane have started every game this season.

Maine at Stony Brook 7 p.m.
The Seawolves and Black Bears have been headed in opposite directions, with Stony Brook on a 2-game win streak after winning its first conference game of the season, and Maine in the midst of a 14-game losing streak... Each team won its home contest in last year's regular-season series... Stony Brook's Kirsten Jeter (24 points) and Maine's Katia Bratishko (10) are both coming off their career highs in points last time out.

Hartford at New Hampshire (Metrocast - tape delay) 7 p.m.
Hartford took the season series last year from New Hampshire... Both teams feature strong post threats in Candace Williams (UNH), Diana Delva (Hart), Jill McDonald (UNH) and Erica Beverly (Hart)... McDonald and Beverly lead their teams in blocks, while Williams and Delva lead their respective teams in scoring.

Boston U. at Albany 7 p.m.
Both teams won their home games last year to split the season series, however the Great Danes pushed the Terriers to the limit in Boston, forcing overtime... Three-pointers could be flying in this contest as two of top long-range shooters in the conference, Kristi Dini from Boston U. and Britney McGee from Albany, will be on the court and these teams rank 8th and 9th in 3-point field goal percentage defense.