Binghamton’s Laine Kurpniece (Riga, Latvia/Secondary School 47) and UMBC’s Brittnie Hughes (Roanoke, Va./Northside) share Player of the Week honors, while MaryLynne Schaefer (Centreville, Va./Westfield) of Hartford takes home Rookie of the Week accolades. The weekly honors are the first ever such recognition for all three student-athletes. Schaefer becomes the third straight Hawk to garner Rookie of the Week honors as teammate Erica Beverly won the first two awards of the 2005-06 season.
Kurpniece averaged 17.7 ppg and 10.3 rpg on the week as she guided the Bearcats to victories over La Salle and Marshall. Her best outing of the week came as she scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in leading Binghamton to an 84-70 win over La Salle on Wednesday.
Hughes led UMBC to back-to-back wins last week as the junior point guard averaged 18.0 ppg and 6.5 apg in two contests. Hughes opened the week at American, scoring a career-high 19 points with nine assists and a 9-of-9 performance at the free throw line. The junior guard currently holds the longest double-digit scoring streak in America East with a seven-game string.
Schaefer averaged 12.0 ppg, while shooting an impressive 45.5 percent (10-for-22) from three-point land. The freshman guard set career highs in all three games she played in on the week. She opened the week at Rider with a nine-point effort, followed that up with an 11-point effort in the Hawks only loss of the season at UConn, and then netted a team-high 16 points versus Manhattan.
AMERICA EAST NOTES:
Meinhardt back to old ways: After sitting out the first two games of the 2005-06 season due to injury, Boston University’s Katie Meinhardt was eased back into the lineup and had an impressive week for the Terriers. In her first game of the season on November 27 versus Delaware, Meinhardt played just nine minutes and was held scoreless, while shooting 0-for-4 from the field. The 5-9 guard brushed the rust off after her first game of the season and dropped in 24 points over 30 minutes of action in Boston U.’s overtime win at Canisius. On Saturday, Meinhardt again led the Terriers to a victory as she scored a game-high 13 points versus Long Island. The junior preseason all-conference selection has been plagued by injuries for nearly her entire career. She took a medical redshirt in 2003-04 and then missed the first nine games of 2004-05 season due to injury as well.
Strong start: The nine America East teams are off to an impressive 33-20 start (.623). Five of nine conference squads are above .500 to begin the 2005-06 season. Hartford, UMBC and New Hampshire are all 5-1, while Boston U. is 4-1. America East programs have been dominant versus MAAC opponents (7-1), Northeast Conference foes (4-1), Patriot League squads (3-1) and Atlantic 10 teams (4-2).
Familiar face: Boston University travels to Indiana on Saturday where the Terriers will take on former Maine head coach Sharon Versyp and the Hoosiers at the RCA Dome (8 p.m.). A two-time America East Coach of the Year, Versyp is in her first season at the helm of the Hoosiers. In five seasons in Orono (2000-05), she guided the Black Bears to an impressive 98-51 record (.657), including three regular season titles, one America East Championship, an NCAA Tournament berth and two WNIT appearances. Jody Benner, who spent 12 seasons at Maine as an assistant coach and associate head coach, will also be on the sideline as an assistant coach with the Hoosiers. Boston University shocked Versyp’s Maine squad in last season’s America East Championship as the No. 8 Terriers defeated top-ranked Maine, 63-51. Saturday’s match-up is the second game of an IU doubleheader as the men host Kentucky before the women’s contest.
Hawks hope to survive Hurricanes, again: When Hartford travels to Miami on Saturday (5 p.m.), the Hawks will be looking to defeat the host Hurricanes for the second-straight season. Last year, Hartford opened the season with a 63-53 victory over Miami at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.
Familiar foe: Former America East member Northeastern hosts New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) at Cabot Gym. For the past six seasons UNH and NU have met twice in the regular season with the home team winning all 12 contests.