American East Conference

Hood led the Hawks in both of its games during the two-week span. She first led the Hawks to a 65-59 victory over Saint Joseph’s University who had received 12 votes in the previous week’s AP Poll. She finished with 20 points against the Hawks on 8-of-14 shooting. She also led the team with eight rebounds, while adding a block and two assists. She then led the Hawks against Seton Hall in Hartford’s final non-conference game and what would be Rizzotti’s 100th victory. Against the Pirates, Hood connected of 6-of-9 attempts while also posting a 6-of-8 effort from the free throw line. Hood finished with 18 points, four rebounds, a block and an assist.

Clark was named the MVP of the Lehigh Christmas City Classic after averaging 20.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg in UNH's overtime victories over Towson and Lehigh. Against Towson, she notched her second career double-double with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Clark scored 18 of those points in the second half and overtime, including seven points in the extra session. In the championship matchup with Lehigh, Clark scored 14 points, 10 points in the second half and overtime, including a crucial three-pointer halfway through the overtime period to give the Wildcats a six-point lead. She also contributed five rebounds and two steals to the winning cause.

Beverly recorded her third collegiate double-double, her first since Nov. 26, against Seton Hall while also finishing with 16 points at home against Saint Joseph’s. In the Hawks home victory over Saint Joe’s she finished with a 6-of-8 effort from the floor and 4-of-8 from the free throw line. She added five rebounds while matching her season best with three steals. She then picked up five rebounds in the first five minutes on the road at Seton Hall. She finished that game with 14 rebounds, matching her career-best. She also finished with 10 points on a 3-of-7 effort from the floor and 4-of-8 from the free throw line.

AMERICA EAST NOTES:

Strong start: America East women’s basketball teams are off to a strong 53-37 (.581) combined start to the 2005-06 season. As a conference, America East currently ranks 13th in the nation in The Collegiate Basketball News Women’s RPI Report, but more importantly, is fourth among I-AA conferences. Only the Colonial (eighth), Missouri Valley (11th) and Atlantic 10 (ninth) are higher ranking I-AA leagues. America East boasts three teams with RPIs in the top 100. Due in large part to the Seawolves win over ranked Temple, Stony Brook leads the conference teams with an RPI of 40, followed by Hartford (59) and Boston University (96).

Cardiac ‘Cats: The Wildcats closed out 2005 in thrilling fashion as they earned two hard-fought overtime victories to win the Lehigh Christmas City Classic. UNH needed overtime to defeat Towson, 70-69, in the first round of the four-team tournament, and then topped host Lehigh 66-58, also in an extra frame. The two victories marked the first time in school history that the Wildcats won back-to-back games that went into overtime.

Home sweet home: America East teams combine to boast an impressive 25-6 (.806) record at home to start the 2005-06 season. Binghamton and UMBC lead the conference with flawless 4-0 marks on their own court, while Boston University and Hartford are also unbeaten with 3-0 home records. On the road conference teams are 19-26 (.422), while they are 9-5 (.643) at neutral venues.

Point of emphasis: Stony Brook’s high-octane duo of Mykeema Ford and Jessica Smith are both rapidly approaching the 1,000-point milestone for their careers. Ford (978 career points) needs just 22 points to reach the marker, while Smith (952) is 48 points shy of the achievement. Hartford’s Erika Messam is not far behind the Stony Brook pair as she has 927 career points.