Boston University's Rachael Vanderwal (Stoney Creek, Ont./Bishop Ryan Catholic) and Stony Brook's Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Trenton) share America East Player of the Week honors, while Hartford's Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) earns her second-straight Rookie of the Week accolade. The awards were announced Monday (November 28).
Vanderwal turned in a pair of standout performances to lead the Terriers to home victories over two former America East schools. In Tuesday’s home opener against Northeastern, Vanderwal scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting and added game highs of eight assists and six steals to help Boston U. post a convincing 73-46 win. On Sunday, Vanderwal helped the Terriers pull out a thrilling 61-59 victory over Delaware by posting her fourth career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. Through three games, Vanderwal is Boston U.’s leader in scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg).
Ford continued her solid play to open up the 2005-06 campaign, collecting game-highs of 19 points and eight assists in a decisive 87-61 road victory at Quinnipiac last week, helping the Seawolves open the season 2-0 for the first time since 1997-98. Her 19 points tied her season-high set in SB’s opener vs. Bucknell, while her eight assists was just one short of her career-high set a year ago vs. Bradley.
Beverly has led the Hawks to a 3-0 start to the season, most recently tallying a double-double and career-highs in points (17) and rebounds (14). Beverly finished the game shooting 7-of-11 from the floor (63.6 percent) and also added two steals to the Hawks effort. With the Minutewomen holding a 45-41 advantage with 8:30 to play in the game, Beverly sparked the Hawks to victory and a 27-7 run to finish the game. Beverly finished with eight points and a steal in that run.
AMERICA EAST NOTES:
Terriers top two former league foes: Boston University faced two former America East members this past week and defeated them both. The Terriers made short work of crosstown rival Northeastern, 73-46, and then escaped with a two-point victory over Delaware, 61-59.
Rising stars: Just two weeks into the season, most people are aware of the start that two-time Rookie of the Week Erica Beverly of Hartford is off to, but there are a few other rookies around the league that could blossom into future stars in America East. Boston University’s Christine Kinneary (Hicksville, N.Y./Holy Trinity) had a solid week all around as she averaged 9.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 5.0 apg while shooting 50.0 percent from the field. The freshman guard currently leads the Terriers in assists (4.0 apg) and is third in scoring (8.7 ppg). Vermont’s Amy Rosenkrantz (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) scored a career-high 20 points in her first start at UVM to lead the Catamounts past Mercer, 64-43. Rosenkrantz averaged a team-high 12.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg in the tournament enroute to being named to the all-tournament squad. Joy Sterling (Granada Hills, Calif./William S. Hart) of Albany has also had a quality start to the season. Sterling has recorded double-figure rebound tallies in three of her first four collegiate games and is averaging a team-high 8.8 caroms per game on the season to go along with a solid 5.8 ppg.
Double take: The second full week of the 2005-06 women’s basketball season provided 13 double-doubles (points-rebounds). Maine’s Katie Whittier (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) tallied three double-doubles to lead the conference on the week, while teammate Abby Schrader (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant), Vermont’s Alexis Castro (Chula Vista, Calif./Coronado) and Hartford’s Erica Beverly each tallied two of their own.
Student faces teacher: Hartford head coach Jen Rizzotti returns to her old stomping grounds on Thursday, December 1 as the Hawks take on Geno Auriemma’s Connecticut Huskies at the Hartford Civic Center (7 p.m.). Rizzotti, a 1996 UConn grad, led the Huskies to their first-ever National Championship in 1995. The point guard was the Associated Press National Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy winner as college basketball's outstanding senior player in 1995-96. She was also a two-time Kodak All-American First Team selection, a GTE/CoSIDA Women's Basketball Academic All-American, the Big East Player of the Year, and the Big East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Hartford lost to UConn last season 55-32 in front of 16,294 fans at the Civic Center.