CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--A pair of sophomores--Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ont./St. Peter) and Boston University's Aly Hinton (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock)-- shared the America East Women's Basketball Player of the Week award for the week ending February 3. Stony Brook freshman forward Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) earned the first Rookie of the Week award for February by setting a new career-high in points. Click here for full weekly release in PDF.
In the only game of the week for the Catamounts, Pilypaitis tied the Vermont single game scoring record, pouring in a career-high 40 points against Boston University, including 24 points in the second half alone. She also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists in 40 minutes. Despite a Catamount loss, the sophomore guard went 11-for-22 from the field, 5-for-7 from three-point range and 13-for-16 from the foul line. Pilypaitis scored 22 of the final 34 points for Vermont in the final 14 minutes of the game. This is her third weekly award of the season and second consecutive.
Pilypaitis is the first America East player to notch 40 or more points since Boston University's Katie Meinhardt scored 43 points during the 2005 America East Championship on March 9, 2005.
Hinton averaged a double-double in a two-win week for the Terriers. The sophomore forward posted 18.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 68.8% from the field. She also had a hot hand from the charity stripe, converting 14-of-16 attempts for 87.5%. Against UMBC on Wednesday, Hinton poured in 23 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, to help the Terriers overcome a 19-point first-half deficit. Fifteen of her points came in the second half during Boston U.'s rally. This is Hinton's first player of the week award. She won the rookie award once last season.
Stony Brook freshman forward Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) earned the first Rookie of the Week award for February by setting a new career-high in points. On Tuesday night, she scored a personal best 17 points against league-leading Hartford. In addition, she tallied two steals and one assist. At Albany on Saturday, the rookie netted 15 points, and snagged six boards and four thefts. For the week Jeter shot 53.8% from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. The award is Jeter's first this season.
Recent Results
Saturday, February 2
* at Maine 63, Binghamton 50 (WABI)
A trio of Black Bears--sophomores Brittany Boser, Amanda Tewksbury, and freshman Emily Rousseau--each scored 15 points while playing 30+ minutes... Maine went 22-for-25 from the charity stripe, ultimately making the difference in the game as Binghamton hit 10-of-14 attempts... Sophomore Erica Carter led all Bearcats with 11 points and six assists.
* at Boston University 83, Vermont 73
Sophomore Catamount Courtnay Pilypaitis became the first player in the conference to hit 40 points in a game since the 2004-05 season... Pilypaitis scored 40 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field and 13-of-16 from the free-throw line... Terrier senior Cheri Raffo scored a personal and team-high 27 points to come within five points of reaching 1,000 for her career.
* at Albany 77, Stony Brook 65
Junior TaNika Thrower led four Great Danes in double-digits with 19 points on the day... Senior Gia Sanders notched eight points and a game-high 15 boards... Albany outrebounded the visitors, 45-35, and drew 26 fouls... For the Seawolves, sophomore Kairsten Nunn scored a team-high 23 points, while rookie Kirsten Jeter netted 15 points.
* New Hampshire 77, at UMBC 67
Sophomore Candace Williams scored 19 points to lead the Wildcats to their second straight victory... Classmate Amy Simpson handed out 11 assists... UNH outscored the Retrievers in the second half, 47-35, after trailing by two points going into halftime... UMBC sophomore Carlee Cassidy scored 20 points and played all 40 minutes.
* - America East Conference Game
Upcoming Action
Tuesday, February 5
* Vermont at Binghamton 7 p.m.
Both the Catamounts and the Bearcats are coming off losses... Binghamton took both games of the home-and-home series last year... Sophomore Courtnay Pilypaitis is second in the conference with 16.3 ppg.
* UMBC at Hartford 7 p.m.
In a rematch of the 2007 America East Championship, the Retrievers visit Chase Arena... The Hawks hope to defend an 18 game home winning streak... Two of the league's top scorers will be on the floor in UMBC's Carlee Cassidy (17.6 ppg) and Hartford's Danielle Hood (15.8).
Wednesday, February 6
* Boston University at Albany (TW-3) 12 p.m.
Both teams have multigame winning streaks coming into the game... The Terriers are averaging 73.6 ppg in conference contests... Senior Kristin Higy and junior TaNika Thrower lead the Great Danes with 11.6 ppg and 11.1 ppg, respectively.
* Stony Brook at New Hampshire 7 p.m.
Three Wildcats are in the league's top-ten in scoring: Ashley Cerniglia, Amy Simpson and Denise Beliveau... Seawolf senior Dana Ferraro passed former teammate Jessica Smith earlier this season in career rebounds and sits 43 boards away from 1,000 for her career.