Stony Brook’s Jessica Smith (Bloomingdale, N.J./Butler) has been named America East Player of the Week for week 17. Vermont’s May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Collegiate) wins her second America East Rookie of the Week award during the final week of the regular season.
Smith earns her fourth player of the week honor of the season and ninth all-time, which ranks sixth-best in conference history. She averaged 18.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg as the second-seeded Seawolves closed out the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. She scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to record her league-best seventh double-double of the season on Wednesday at Albany. She followed that up with 16 points and seven steals in Stony Brooks win over Maine. The senior forward is the league leader in rebounding at 7.6 rpg and ranks second in the conference in scoring trailing only her teammate Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy).
Kotsopoulos led Vermont to a 2-0 week that helped the Catamounts move into the third seed for the upcoming conference tournament. The freshman forward led the team in scoring in both games netting 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in a win over New Hampshire. She followed that up with a game-high 19 points, 16 in the first half, in a win over Albany. She ranks second among all America East freshmen in scoring and steals, trailing only teammate Courtnay Pilypaitis (Orleans, Ontario/St. Peters) in both catagories.
AMERICA EAST NOTEBOOK
America East Championship Bracket Set
The nine-team field for the 2007 America East Women’s Basketball Championship is set. One of the conference’s premier events takes place at Binghamton University’s Events Center on March 8-11.
The league tournament gets underway on Thursday, March 8 as No. 9 New Hampshire and No. 8 Albany square off at 7 p.m. The day’s quarterfinal action begins on Friday at now when No. 7 UMBC takes on second-seeded Stony Brook at noon, followed by sixth-seeded Maine against No. 3 Vermont.
The winner of that first-round affair will take on top-seeded Hartford at 2 p.m. in the night’s first quarterfinal contest that will be followed by fifth-seeded Boston University against host-school No. 4 Binghamton.
The semifinals take place on Saturday, March 10 at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and will be televised on New England Sports Network (NESN) and Time Warner Cable in Albany. The title game will be played on Sunday at 5 p.m. and will air live on NESN, MSG, and FSNY.
2007 America East Women’s Basketball Championship
at Events Center (Binghamton, N.Y.)
Thursday, March 8: First Round
#9 New Hampshrie vs. #8 Albany, 7 p.m.
Friday, March 9: Quarterfinals
#7 UMBC vs. #2 Stony Brook, 12 noon
#6 Maine vs. #3 Vermont, 2 p.m.
#8/9 vs. #1 Hartford 6 p.m.
#5 Boston U. at #Binghamton, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 10: Semifinals
5 p.m./7:30 p.m. (AETV - NESN/TW3)
Sunday, March 11: Championship
5 p.m. (AETV - NESN/FSNY/MSG)
Twice as nice for Hawks
Hartford claimed its second-straight regular season title as they closed with a 60-56 win over UMBC. The Hawks matched their 2005-06 record finishing 15-1, a game ahead of second-place Stony Brook, who they beat twice in the regular season.
Streaking Cats’ Strut to Third Seed
Just a week ago, Vermont had dropped to fourth place after holding the league’s top spot early in conference play. The Catamounts had dropped three in a row and five of their last season. However, just won week later Vermont finished the regular season with two wins and surged into third-place for the tournament. The Catamounts, who were picked eighth in the preseason coaches’ poll, finished the regular season with 18 wins and clinched third place in the America East standings, both the best marks under head coach Sharon Dawley.
Bearcats Fit to be Tied, Claim Fourth Seed
Binghamton not only caught a huge break by being the host and playing on its home court for the upcoming America East Championship, but its season sweep of Vermont helped them come out on top of a three-way fourth-place tie breaker.
Single-Session Tickets Now On Sale
With the bracket now set, single session tickets went on sale as of Monday, March 5 at 9 a.m. Call 607-777-SLAM or Visit www.BearcatStuff.com or www.AmericaEast.com for pricing and availability.
Preseason Poll: Where Are They Now
With one week left in the reuglar season, here is where they were picked in the preseason poll compared to where they are now.
School Preseason Seed
Hartford 1 1
Stony Brook 2 2
Boston U. 3 5
Binghamton 4 4
New Hampshire 5 9
UMBC 6 7
Maine 7 6
Vermont 8 3
Albany 9 8
Hawks/Seawolves Continue to Roll
Hartford and Stony Brook have broken from the pack and have roll into the tournament with a lot of momentum. The Hawks extended their league-best 13-game winning streak with wins over Maine and UMBC. All and all, Hartford has won 15-of-16 with its lone defeat coming in a 66-64 overtime loss to Vermont. On the other hand, the Seawolves are 14-2 earning their best-ever mark in conference play with their lone loses coming at the hands of top-seeded Hartford. These two teams are operating on all cylinders, but anything can happen come to
RPI Update: Four teams on the rise
America East remains locked into the #16 slot in the March 5 version of the Collegiate Basketball News (CBN) women’s college basketball ratings percentage index (RPI). Four of the league’s nine teams improved its standings from week 10. Hartford continues to rise in the rankings jumping four spots to 40, while Stony Brook is now 77. BVermont rebounded improving by five spots. All and all, five of the nine teams ranked in the top 200.
School 2/26 3/5 Diff.
Vermont 156 151 +5
Hartford 44 40 +4
Stony Brook 81 77 +4
Boston U. 150 147 +3
20/20/20
For the third-straight year, Hartford has won 20 games. Last season, the Hawks posted a program-best 27 wins in the regular season, while they won 22 games in 2004-05.
Ford Second-Longest Streak in Nation
Stony Brook’s Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy) owns a league-best 38-game double-digit scoring streak, dating back to the February 9, 2006 America East game at Vermont. Ford owns the second-longest streak in the nation behind Courtney Paris of Oklahoma.
Barker Continues Streak
While Mykeema Ford’s streak is very impressive, Maine’s Bracey Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine/Mount Desert Island) has quietly scored in double digits in 16 straight games and 23-of-24 games this season. The lone exception was a zero-point performance against Holy Cross, a game she played just three minutes before leaving with a wrist injury. If you eliminate the Holy Cross game, Barker has scored in double figures in 25 straight.
We’re Streaking
While Ford and Barker’s streaks are among the best in the nation here is a breakdown of the league’s top current double-figure scoring streaks.
G Player, Team
38 Mykeema Ford, Stony Brook
16 Bracey Barker, Maine
11 Laine Kurpniece, Binghamton
10 Jessica Smith, Stony Brook
6 Sharri Rohde, UMBC
Barker Nation’s Best From the Line
Maine’s Bracey Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine/Mount Desert Island) leads the nation in free throw percentage. She is shooting 92.7 percent (89-for-96) overall.
Hartford Defense Fourth Nationally
Hartford continues to rise to the top behind the strength of its defense. The Hawks rank fourth nationally as they are allowing just 52.8 ppg. The Hawks have allowed under 50 points on 13 different occasions this season, including seven times during Hartford’s current 13-game win streak.
Ford Cracks Top 25 in Scoring
Stony Brook’s Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy) recently moved into the top 25 nationally in scoring. The senior guard leads America East and ranks 25th nationally averaging 19.2 ppg.
Preseason All-Conference Earn Billing
While not much stock usually goes into the preseason all-conference team, this season these players could be among the league’s all-conference honorees. With the exception of Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral), who missed most of 2006-07 with a season-ending knee injury, the all-conference honorees rank among the league leaders in several catagories. These four below have a good shot at collecting some hardware at the end-of-the-year banquet.
Stony Brook’s Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy) ranks first in scoring (19.2 ppg), fifth in assists (3.93 apg) and is a four-time America East Player of the Week.
Jessica Smith (Bloomingdale, N.J./Butler) of Stony Brook ranks second in scoring (16.5 ppg), first in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and is also a four-time player of the week honoree.
Hartford’s Danielle Hood (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) ranks seventh in the conference in scoring (13.3 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (.498) and recently became the third junior to pass 1,000 points in her career at Hartford.
Binghamton’s Laine Kurpniece (Coopersburgm Pa./Southern Lehigh) missed five games this season, but has really emerged of late. She’s scored in double figures in 11-straight games and ranks 12th in the conference in scoring (11.0 ppg). In addition, she ranks seventh in field goal percentage (.487) and fourth in offensive rebounds (2.50 orpg).
Championship Brunch at Events Center
The 2007 America East Women’s Basketball Championship Brunch will be held at Binghamton’s Events Center on March 8 at 10 a.m. The league will hand out its annual awards just hours before the start of the conference’s nine-team tournament. The brunch is open to the public with ticket prices set at $40. To purchase tickets, contact Assistant to the Commissioner Rachael Hilgar at hilgar@americaeast.com.
Championship Tickets On Sale Now
Tickets for the 2007 America East Women’s Basketball Championship on March 8-11 are on sale now. To purchase tickets visit www.AmericaEast.com or www.BearcatStuff.com.
Retrievers Scoring Well-Balanced
UMBC is the only team in the America East with four players ranking in the conference’s top-20 scoring leaders.
Player PPG Rank
Sharri Rohde 13.7 6th
Brittnie Hughes 11.3 11th
Kristin Drabyn 10.4 17th
Amanda Robinson 9.8 18th
Signs of Improvement
Maine, Vermont and Albany finished as the bottom three teams last year and struggled to find wins throughout the season. This season all three have matched or surpassed their win totals from the previous season.
Win Totals
School 05-06 06-07 Diff.
Vermont 9 18 +9
Maine 10 13 +3
Albany 7 8 +1
Maine 7th Nationally From the Line
The Black Bears rank seventh nationally from the charity stripe converting on 78.4 percent. Maine has made 411-of-524 through 27 games this season.
Kurpniece Leading the Bearcats
Binghamton’s Laine Kurpniece (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) is averaging 11.9 ppg in conference play and has scored in double figures in 11-straight games and 13 of 17 games in league play. She is shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and 80.6 percent from the charity stripe.
UMBC Not in the Giving Mood
The Retrievers have been very protective of the ball this season. They lead America East and rank 17th in the nation in turnovers at 14.4 per game. In addition, they boast a league-best 1.01 assist/turnover ratio.
Boston: A Long Distance Call
Boston U. has found success from behind the arc this season. The Terriers are averaging 6.1 three-pointers per game this season, which is first in the conference and ranks 32nd out of 324 teams in Division I.
Maine Scoring in Three’s
Maine leads the league and ranks 13th in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage. The Black Bears are shooting 37.1 percent from downtown anchored by senior Ashley Underwood.
Underwood for Three, GOOD
Maine’s Ashley Underwood (Augusta, Maine/Cony) ranks 12th in the nation in three-point percentage. She is converting on 42.1 percent from downtown. She is more than nine percentage points in front of her closest competition in America East.
2007 Ford Scorer
Stony Brook’s Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy) has kicked her scoring up a notch since the new year. The senior guard is averaging 22.5 ppg in 2007, which is six points more than her closest competition. In addition, she has led the Seawolves to a 14-2 mark in conference play and is averaging 3.69 apg, which is fifth since the new year.
Stony Brook’s One-Two Scoring Duo
Stony Brook’s Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy) and Jessica Smith (Bloomingdale, N.J./Butler) rank first and second in the league in scoring-respectively. Ford leads the league averaging 19.2 ppg, while Smith is second at 16.5 ppg. Never in league history has a team had players finish first and second in scoring.
Seawolves’ One-Two Rebounding Pair
Stony Brook’s Jessica Smith (Bloomingdale, N.J./Butler) and Dana Ferraro (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) rank first and second in the league in rebounding-respectively. Smith leads the league averaging 7.6 rpg, while Ferraro is second pulling down 7.6 rpg.
Hartford Extends Home Streak
The Hawks extended their conference home win- streak to 24 games with a win over Maine in the regular season finale. This streak includes Hartford’s impressive 6-0 record in the America East Championship over the past two seasons and an 8-0 mark this season.
Defense: A League Trend
America East schools have been turning up the heat defensively this season. Three of nine teams are holding opponents under 61.0 points per game-while all nine are under 67.8 ppg allowed. In addition, all nine schools are holding its opponents under 44.4 percent shooting from the floor.
Non-Conference Success
America East teams have combined for a 55-58 (.491) non-conference record in 2006-07 season. As a whole, conference teams are 9-2 against the Ivy League and have tallied seven wins over the MAAC and six over the Patriot League and Northeast Conference.
Tournament Frenzy
America East schools have participated in 16 in-season tournaments during non-conference play this year. Earlier this season-Vermont won the URI Invitational and TD Banknorth Classic, Maine captured the Dead River Classic title, UMBC went a perfect 2-0 at the Battle at the Border Tournament-and Boston U. lost to No. 3 Duke in the finals of the Blue Sky Classic.
Playing the Field (NCAA STYLE)
America East schools are slated to play 24 of the 64 teams in last year’s NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Among these teams are Connecticut, Purdue, Duke, Temple, Arizona State and Boston College. Several other teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship.
Lights-Camera-Action
America East announced its most comprehensive television schedule in history with more than 50 men’s and women’s basketball games slated for broadcast in 2006-07 (see following page for complete schedule). Included in the package is the America East Men’s Basketball Championship-which will air live on ESPN2 on March 10 at 12 noon. It marks the 19th-consecutive year that the championship game will appear on ESPN or ESPN2.
America East and ESPN Regional Television will team up to produce and distribute games throughout the America East geographic footprint, which includes several of the nation’s top 25 media markets including New York (No. 1), Boston (No. 5), Washington, D.C. (No. 8), Baltimore and Hartford. In addition, no fewer than 12 games will be included in the ESPN Full Court package-the subscription service provided by ESPN. The games will also be available on-line via video streaming at AmericaEast.com, through the conference’s multi-media partner, XOS Technologies.
Championship Binghamton Bound
The America East Women’s Basketball Championship moves to Binghamton for the first time in 2007 as Binghamton University hosts the nine-team tournament on March 8-11 at Events Center. The first round game will take place on Thursday, March 8, followed by the quarterfinals on Friday, March 9, the semifinals on Saturday, March 10 and the title game on Sunday, March 11.
Tournament ticket packages are $25 for youth/students and $40 for adults. To purchase tickets call 607-777-SLAM or online at www.AmericaEast.com. To request media credentials for the conference’s premier event, email Tom Wilkins (wilkins@americaeast.com).
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTEBOOKS
Albany Great Danes
UAlbany (8-21, AE 4-12) dropped its final two games of the regular season, falling to Stony Brook, 67-61, on Senior Day and Vermont, 65-61, on the road... Freshman Charity Iromuanya (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Northeast) led the team against Stony Brook, tying a career-high with 17 points... She also added five assists, two steals and two rebounds in 35 minutes of action... Junior forward Kristin Higy (Akron, Ohio/North Canton Hoover) scored 16 points to go along with three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block versus the Seawolves... Junior guard/forward Sherri Mikus (Duncannon, Pa./Susquenita) added 11 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals in the contest... Iromuanya recorded her third straight game in double figures at Vermont, recording 12 points for the Great Danes... She added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block against the Catamounts... Higy and freshman guard Britney McGee (Bakersfield, Calif./West) also scored 12 points in the game... Senior guard Amanda Ward (East Hartford, Conn./East Hartford) added 11 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists... Higy leads the team, averaging 10.5 points per game and shoots a team-high 48.6 percent from the floor, while also grabbing a team-best 6.3 rebounds... Ward adds 10.4 points while Iromuanya, who chips in with 6.0 points, leads the team with 1.6 steals and shoots a team-high 85.7 percent from the free throw line... UAlbany will face New Hampshire in the first round of the America East Conference Tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (11-18, 7-9 AE) has earned a top-4 seed at the America East Conference Tournament for the fourth time in six years. The fourth-seeded Bearcats will play host to the America East Tournament for the first time this coming weekend... Freshman guard Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill./Naperville), starting in place of the injured Rebecka Lindgren (Oskarshamn, Sweden/Sandagymnasiet), averaged 17.0 points in Binghamton’s two games last week. In six starts this season, she has averagred 11.4 points per game. In the process, she has shot .493 from the field (32-of-65) and .448 from three-point range (13-of-29)... Junior center Laine Kurpniece (Riga, Latvia/Secondary School 47) has reached double figures in her last 11 games. She has averaged 14.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during that span... Senior point guard Shea Kenny (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) averaged 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in her last three games... Against New Hampshire on Saturday, she scored a career-high 17 points ... in her last six games, junior forward Juta Jahilo (Helsinki, Finland/Helsingin Kaupunki) has shot .696 from the field (16-of-23) ... Sophomore forward Laura Franceski (Moscow, Pa./North Pocono) continues to lead the America East Confernce with 1.90 blocks per game... Her 78 blocks ranks third all time in school history and her career average of 1.42 blocks per game ranks second all time in school history ... Binghamton has averaged 65.7 points per game in its last 12 games. The Bearcats have reached the 70-point mark four times during that span.
Boston University Terriers
Fighting for playoff positioning, Boston University (15-14, 7-9 America East) used an 18-0 run over six minutes in the second half to eclipse a 10-point deficit and hold off Binghamton, 72-70, on Wednesday... Senior Erica Kovach (Georgetown, Texas/Georgetown) provided the heroics in her final regular-season game, converting the game-winning lay up with only seven seconds left... Binghamton’s Laura Sario’s three-point attempt from the top of the key hit the back iron as time expired... Kovach finished with 10 points while fellow senior Katie Meinhardt (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius) added 16 points on 7-of-16 from the field... Sophomore Amarachi Umez-Eronini (Washington, D.C./Woodrow Wilson) scored 16 of her career- and game-high 22 points in the second half... The Terriers and Bearcats will have a rematch on Friday, March 9, at 8 p.m., as the five and four seeds in the America East Tournament, respectively.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (22-7, 15-1 America East) closed out the regular season with a pair of victories to secure their second-straight America East Regular Season title... The Hawks defeated Maine in the final regular-season home game 58-40 and then defeated UMBC on the road 60-56 to guarantee sole possession of the regular season championship... The Hawks will play the winner of the New Hampshire vs. Albany first-round game on Thursday night in the quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m... The Hawks were led by MaryLynne Schaefer (Centreville, Va./Westfield) and Danielle Hood (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) who each finished with an average of 11.5 points over the two games last week... Schaefer completed her second and third-straight games in double figures with 13 against Maine and 10 against UMBC... She finished the week shooting 5-of-8 from long range and 6-of-13 overall... Hood finished the two games with a 10-of-22 effort from the field... Hood leads the team in scoring to close out the regular season, averaging 13.3 points-per-game, which ranks as the seventh best in the conference and in the top-100 in the NCAA... Freshman Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) also ranks among the top in conference games where she is first in field goal percentage (.640), second in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and 17th in scoring (10.4 ppg).
Maine Black Bears
Maine (13-14, 7-9 America East) dropped its final two regular-season games this past week, including a 58-40 setback to Hartford and a 67-56 loss to Stony Brook... Both games came on the road against the top-two teams in the conference... Ashley Underwood (Benton, Maine/Cony) led Maine with a game-high 21 points in the setback to the Seawolves, while Bracey Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine/Mount Desert Island) paced the Black Bears with 11 points at Hartford... Barker notched her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds at Stony Brook... Maine finished in three-way tie for fourth place after the Black Bears were picked to finish seventh in the America East Preseason Poll released in early November... Maine earned the sixth seed for the conference tournament this weekend and will face No. 3-seed Vermont at 2 p.m. on Friday.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (13-16, 6-10 America East) dropped its regular-season finale to Hartford, 60-56... On Senior Night, senior forward Sharri Rohde (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) and senior point guard Brittnie Hughes (Roanoke, Va./Northside) combined for 64 percent of the Retrievers’ scoring, as Rohde posted 16 points and Hughes scored 20... The Retrievers had a 10-point lead over the regular-season champions near the end of the first half... The score was tied eight times and there were nine lead changes in the second period... UMBC heads into the conference tournament on a two-game slide... The Retrievers finished seventh in the America East standings and will take on No. 2 Stony Brook at noon on Friday, March 9, in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament... The Seawolves swept the season series from UMBC in 2007... The No. 7 seed is the Retrievers’ second-highest ever in the America East after finishing fifth last season and 10th their first two years in the league... UMBC has never won an America East Tournament game, losing to Northeastern in 2004 and 2005 and Binghamton last season... Friday’s quarterfinals match-up will be UMBC’s 30th game of the season, equaling the 2002-03 campaign for the most the program has ever played... UMBC is the only team in the conference with four players ranking among the league’s top 20 scoring leaders... Rohde is the only player in the America East to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists.
New Hampshire Wildcats
New Hampshire (9-19, 4-12) dropped two America East games to close out the regular season... Senior forward Danielle Clark (Corinna, Maine/Nokomis Regional) and Ashley Cerniglia (Pitsford, N.Y./Sutherland) posted 13 points apiece on Wed., Feb. 28, but Vermont rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Wildcats, 59-56... Senior Ray Williams (Mississauga, Ontario/The Woodlands School) helped out with 10 points and six rebounds. Senior Whitney Edwards (Mt. Vernon, N.Y./Trinity Catholic (Conn.)) had five assists in the first half en route to a career-high nine helpers... Freshman Amy Simpson (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) notched a career-high 21 points to lead the Wildcats in scoring, but it was not enough as Binghamton defeated New Hampshire, 66-61... Simpson hit a career-best six 3-pointers (six-of-nine), including four in the first half of action... Sal?e-Marie Johnson (Brampton, Ontario/St. Augustine Secondary) went four-for-four from the field, including 3-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc, to total 11 points for the Wildcats... Edwards posted 10 points and dished out five assists in the game for the Wildcats... For the second consecutive game, Williams led the Wildcats in rebounding, pulling down nine boards, including six on the offensive end of the court... The Wildcats are seeded ninth in the America East tournament and will face No. 8 seeded Albany in the opening round game on Thurs., March 8 at Binghamton’s Events Center.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (18-10, 14-2 America East) won both of its games last week to conclude the regular season... Jessica Smith (Bloomingdale, N.J./Butler) recorded her seven double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Stony Brook to a 67-61 victory over Albany... Smith was named America East Co-Player of the Game... The Seawolves came back from a 21-11 first-half deficit to lead 28-27 at the break... After the ninth tie of the game at 54-54, Stony Brook pulled away in the late minutes, keyed by Smith’s seven points... Mykeema Ford (Trenton, N.J./Cheshire Academy) and Leah Getz (Peninsula, Ohio/Southampton) combined for 29 points in the victory... Prior to the game against Vermont, seniors Smith, Ford, Getz, Kelly Watson (Chatham, Ontario/John McGregor), Inbar Orion (Jerusalem, Israel), Farah Vasquez-Jacobo (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic) and Sabrina Thompson (Roosevelt, N.Y./Roosevelt) were honored in their last home game... For the third consecutive game, Stony Brook came back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to beat Maine 67-56... Down 37-27 at the half, the Seawolves came out of the break on an 18-7 run capped by a Smith jumper to gain their first lead of the game at 45-44 with 10:49 remaining in the game... Smith scored 16 points and had seven steals and was named America East Co-Player of the Game... Ford had 15 points, 11 in the second half. Dana Ferraro (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) and Getz each had 13 points... Ferraro added 10 rebounds... Stony Brook set a school record with 14 America East wins and ended the regular season with its second seven-game winning streak of the season. Second-seeded Stony Brook opens up the America East Championship against NO. 7 UMBC on Friday at noon... If the Seawolves advance, they would play the winner of No. 3 Vermont and No. 6 Maine.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (18-11, 7-9 America East) won both games this week to close out the regular season and snap a three-game losing streak... UVM finishes the regular season with 18 wins and clinched third place in the America East standings, both the best marks under head coach Sharon Dawley... Senior Brittney Cross (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) made three free throws in the final 23 seconds to lift Vermont to a come-from-behind victory at New Hampshire, her hometown school... The Catamounts were down as many as 17 in the game and nine in the second half before making a comeback run... UVM closed out the regular season with a victory over Albany... In a game that featured 18 lead changes and 12 ties, UVM took the lead for good with 4:07 left to post the win... America East Rookie of the Week May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Collegiate) led Vermont in both games this week... She averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and shot 58.3 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from long range while also collecting six steals... Kotsopoulos netted a team-high 16 points at New Hampshire and added 19 points (16 in the first half), two shy off her career-high, in the win over Albany... Vermont, the No. 3 seed in the America East Tournament, will face No. 6 Maine on Friday (March 9) at 2:30pm at the Events Center at Binghamton University.