Heavyweights Meet Tuesday Night On NESN

Retracing some footsteps to Sunday's blog entry, there needs to be a correction. Boston University's Jesyka Burks-Wiley (the America East Player of the Week for the 4th straight week as announced on Monday) became the newest member of the 1,000-point/500-rebound club on Saturday in Orono and the entry says Hartford's Erica Beverly is probably next to join that club.

That may not be the case.

Entering Tuesday night's showdown between defending league champion Hartford and preseason coaches' favorite Vermont, Catamount senior Amy Rosenkrantz is 6 rebounds shy of 500 for her career and 51 points away from 1,000. If Rosenkrantz keeps pace with her current season averages (6.2 rpg, 9 ppg) she should reach 500 rebounds Tuesday night and 1,000 points on February 14 at home against Albany. She'll join teammate Courtnay Pilypaitis, who reached the accomplishment earlier this month.

The NESN broadcast goes live at 7 p.m. from Patrick Gym in Burlington with tip-off at 7:04. The game will also be available live on ESPN Full Court and at the America East Zone at www.AmericaEast.com.

All of Tuesday's action includes..

Stony Brook at Albany 12 p.m.
The Great Danes won both games with the Seawolves last season... Stony Brook sophomore Jodie Plikus is averaging 15 ppg over the last 3 games and has seen her minutes climb in each contest... Three Great Danes--Janea Aiken, Britney McGee, Tiffanie Johnson-- are averaging double-figure points and are ranked in the America East top-15 scorers.

Hartford at Vermont (NESN) 7 p.m.
Hartford and Vermont are tied for 2nd in the league standings and split last year's season series, with the home teams winning each match-up... The Hawks are 1-3 in televised games this season... Vermont is the only America East team to defeat Hartford in each of the past two seasons... Eric Frede will call the action, while Leah Secondo will provide the color analysis.

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.

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.

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.