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.

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.

Eight Game Win Streak Alive & Well

The Boston University senior class is making sure it makes its mark on the 2008-09 season. For the fifth straight game, at least three of the four seniors--Kristi Dini, Christine Kinneary, Amarachi Umez-Eronini, and Jesyka Burks-Wiley--finished with double figure points. It was also the 15th time this season, in an 84-57 rout of UMBC at Case Gym. All four of those seniors are in America East's top-13 scorers this season, led by Burks-Wiley's 18.6 ppg, which is one major reason the Terriers are undefeated in 8 games and are 7-0 in conference play.

Wednesday night against the Retrievers, who were led by junior Carlee Cassidy's game-high 33 points, Burks-Wiley finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds, a block and a steal. Kinneary stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, a career-high 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. Umez-Eronini put up 17 points, while sophomore Kerry Cashman also got in on the scoring with a career-high 11 points. The efficient Terrier offense shot 50% or better in both halves, and wound up going 33-for-64 (.516) for the game.

Across the Northeast in Vestal, N.Y., Binghamton and New Hampshire battled it out in the Events Center. The Bearcats won their third straight home game, topping the Wildcats, 76-59. The teams moved into a tie for 5th-place with 3-3 conference records. Four Bearcats netted double-figure points, including senior Laura Franceski who had a solid night with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks and a steal. The senior forward from Moscow, Pa. moved into third-place all-time in America East with 198 career blocks, one ahead of Delaware's Colleen McNamara (1991-95). Next up for Franceski: Northeastern's Katasha Artis with 220 rejected shots to her name. Binghamton's rookie point guard Andrea Holmes also continued to shine in conference play, finishing with 11 points, while adding 8 rebounds and 8 assists. The Wildcats, in the meantime, were led by juniors Candace Williams and Amy Simpson. Williams recorded her league-leading 7th double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Simpson registered 17 points.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.