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.

1,000 Points, 500 Rebounds: Here They Come

Boston University senior Jesyka Burks-Wiley put together another superb performance on Saturday and hit another milestone. Just two games after breaking 1,000 career points, the forward collected her 500th career rebound, becoming only one of two active America East players as members of the 1,000 point/500 rebound club. Burks-Wiley finished with 13 rebounds and a career-high 32 points in Boston U.'s 87-72 win at Maine on Saturday. Hartford's Erica Beverly could be the next player to join the same elite club. Having already reached 500 rebounds last season, Beverly has 841 points and is averaging 10.2 ppg this season. Beverly scored 12 of her 841 career points in Harford's 81-67 win over Stony Brook on Saturday. The victory extended the Hawks' home-court winning streak to 32 games. All five Hartford starters reached double-figure points, and two starters, Beverly and fellow forward Diana Delva, recorded a double-double.

In the other games on Saturday, New Hampshire defeated Albany, 66-54, behind junior guard Amy Simpson's game-high 18 points. The Wildcats moved to 3-2 in conference play despite only dressing 8 players this season and being without 2008 Rookie of the Year, Denise Beliveau, who was expected to play a big role in 2009. UMBC won, 78-63, at home over Binghamton led by Carlee Cassidy's 27 points. The win marked the third straight for the Retrievers since falling in Hartford on January 13. Freshman Erin Brown registered her 4th double-double of the year with 19 points and 10 rebounds. UMBC is off to its best start, 4-2, in conference play since joining America East six years ago.

Stay tuned for the player and rookie of the week on Monday before the first of two America East-produced women's television games broadcasts live from Patrick Gym on Tuesday night at 7 p.m., pitting together the Catamounts and Hawks.

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.