In Search Of Perfection, First Win

Four games are scheduled for this weekend, with three of them coming on Saturday. The temperatures may be cold outside (or just downright frigid in most Northeast areas), but teams are heating up the gyms inside.

When Boston University hosts New Hampshire tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Case Gym, the Terriers will be riding the hottest win streak--four games-- in the conference and will be gunning for a perfect 5-0 in AE before they meet defending champion Hartford, idle this weekend, Wednesday for a first-place battle. But Boston can't look past the Wildcats, who have one of the hottest players around America East right now in Amy Simpson. Having a relatively quiet non-conference season as the top returning scorer for UNH entering the season, Simpson revved the engine once conference play started. In two AE games, the 5-10 guard is averaging 22.5 points--tops in the league--and has knocked down five triples in three consecutive games now including the loss to Dartmouth on Tuesday. The Terriers have their own threat from long-distance in Kristi Dini, now ranked 8th in the country with 2.9 3's per game, but if she gets shut down, Christine Kinneary and Jesyka Burks-Wiley can drive to the net or post up to get the job done.

At 2, Vermont and Albany will get underway at SEFCU Arena. While the BU-UNH game features the top 2 scorers in conference games only (Simpson, Burks-Wiley), this game will have the next 2 on the court in Janea Aiken and Courtnay Pilypaitis. Aiken dumped 33 points on Binghamton last weekend, despite an Albany loss, so she is capable of having a big night. On the other side, Pilypaitis is just a triple-double waiting to happen for Vermont. Pilypaitis, a 6-1 guard, can score in bunches (19.7 ppg in AE) and dish the ball out to teammates (6.0 ppg in AE), but she can also corral rebounds like no guard in recent memory in the America East women's game. She leads the conference with 8.4 boards per game. Both teams are coming off huge wins this week. The Great Danes took out Maine, 70-44, while Vermont defeated Stony Brook in Burlington, 77-42.

Later in the day 4:30, Maine and UMBC will tip-off inside RAC Arena in Baltimore. Junior Brittany Boser will be leading her Black Bears hoping for their first America East victory. To do so, Maine will have to win its first game on the road (0-9 this season). Boser averages team-highs of 10.1 ppg and 4.9 rpg overall and 12.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg in AE contests. The junior forward is also tops on the team with 15 blocks. The Retrievers were embarassed on the road at Hartford Tuesday night, so they will probably be coming home hungry for a win, which would move them back to .500 in America East. The Retrievers have had success this season with their new runnin' offense which creates a fast-paced game. Junior Carlee Cassidy leads the conference with 21.9 ppg, though that average has dipped in conference games to 17.3 ppg. Rookie Tope Obajolu has been a boost off the bench as of late, averaging 10 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over the last three contests.

Check back later for results and more information on Sunday's Stony Brook-Binghamton game to be televised on Time Warner in NY.