CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Hartford sophomore forward/center Diana Delva received the America East Women's Basketball Player of the Week after leading the Hawks over the Vermont Catamounts Sunday evening in a match-up between the two teams picked to finish 1-2 in the preseason coaches' poll. The rookie award for the week ending January 13 went to UMBC's freshman forward Meghan Colabella who played a starting role in the Retrievers' victory over Stony Brook. Click here for full Weekly Release (PDF).
Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) led the Hawks with a season-high 19 points to lead all players in a win over Vermont on Sunday. Delva finished the game shooting 8-of-10 from the field to extend her hot hand in conference play to 12-of-16 from the floor. Delva also finished the game with a 3-of-5 effort at the free throw line while adding six rebounds, a block and a steal to her credit. Delva is averaging 10.2 points per game on the season, and 16.5 points per game in conference play, the best mark for the Hawks and third in the conference. She also leads the team in rebounding for the season at 6.8 boards per game. This is the second weekly honor for Delva this year, as she received co-honors for the week of December 9.
Colabella (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) is the recipient of the Rookie of the Week after she scored eight points, one shy of her career high, and posted a career-best nine rebounds in the Retrievers' 61-58 victory over Stony Brook. Colabella made her second career start against the Seawolves and played a career-high 35 minutes. She made the best of that start, sinking all four of her free throw attempts, dishing out two assists and also posting a block and a steal. It is Colabella's first rookie honor.
Recent Results
Sunday, January 13
* at Albany 78, Maine 46 (AE Zone)
The Great Danes extended their win streak to three games, the longest of the season... Sophomore TaNika Thrower led five Danes in double figures with 17 points... Senior Gia Sanders was named Albany's America East Player of the Game with her 10 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, three steals and two assists... Maine's high scorer was freshman Tanna Ross who scored a game-high 22 points... Sophomore Black Bear Sandra Vaitkute brought down 11 rebounds to lead the team on the glass.
* at Hartford 67, Vermont 58 (CSN)
The Hawks held on to a 13-point halftime lead to pick up their first league win... Sophomore Diana Delva led Hartford in scoring, 19 points, for the second straight game... Sophomore Erica Beverly recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds... Sophomore guard Courtnay Pilypaitis hit a team-high 17 points for the Catamounts... Vermont won the battle on the boards, 42-38, led by Alissa Sheftic's eight rebounds.
Saturday, January 12
* at Binghamton 59, Boston University 55
Junior Laura Franceski recorded a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and also added four blocks, three steals and an assist for Binghamton... Bearcat Erica Carter posted a game-high 14 points... For the Terriers, junior Jesyka Burks-Wiley was held to 11 points and seven rebounds, while junior Christine Kinneary scored 11 points to go along with five helpers.
* at UMBC 61, Stony Brook 56
Sophomore Carlee Cassidy and senior Kristin Drabyn combined for 36 points for the Retrievers in their first conference win since capturing the league championship in 2007... UMBC hit 14 of 15 free throws, including five in the final 1:04 to hang on for the win... Dana Ferraro, Kirsten Jeter and Kairsten Nunn each reached double-digit points for the Seawolves, and both Ferraro and Jeter also finished with nine boards.
* - America East Conference Game
Upcoming Action
Wednesday, January 16
* Binghamton at UMBC 12 p.m.
The Bearcats and Retrievers split last year's regular season games with the home teams winning each time... UMBC is playing their second consecutive home game... Binghamton junior Laura Franceski is averaging a conference-best 11 rebounds per league game.
* Albany at Vermont 7 p.m.
After two road games to open the conference schedule. the Catamounts begin a four-game homestand against Albany... Both teams have sophomores producing the most points per game: Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis (14.2) and Albany's Britney McGee (11.3).
* Hartford at New Hampshire 7 p.m.
The Hawks won both contests last year by just a combined 10 points... The Wildcats are the top three-point shooting team in the conference at 36.1% and will be matched-up with the Hawks who allow an average three-point shooting percentage of 31.6.
* Maine at Stony Brook 7 p.m.
Two first year head coaches, Cindy Blodgett and Michele Cherry, play each other for the first time this season... Aly Young is averaging a team-best 10.8 ppg for the Seawolves, while the Black Bears rely on freshman Tanna Ross (9.9 ppg) and sophomore Brittany Boser (9.7 ppg).
* - America East Conference Game