HARTFORD, Conn. -- After displacing the reigning champion University of Hartford in last year’s preseason coaches’ poll and then proving the coaches right by winning the crown, University of Vermont is once again chosen to win the 2010 America East Women’s Basketball Championship by the slimmest of margins. With five first-place votes and 61 points, the Catamounts beat out the Hawks, who garnered the remaining four first-place votes and 60 points. The preseason poll was announced today at the 2009 America East Basketball Tip-Off Event at the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, host city of the 2010 America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Newman’s Own.
Binghamton followed in third-place with 45 votes, while Boston University and University of New Hampshire tied for fourth-place with 38 points each. Just three points behind was UMBC in sixth-place, followed by Stony Brook University (23 points), University of Maine (13) and University at Albany (11).
The 2010 America East Championship first, quarter and semifinal rounds will take place March 4-7 at Hartford’s Chase Arena in the Reich Family Pavilion. The title game will be hosted a week later by the highest remaining seed with the winner earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Vermont (21-12 overall, 12-4 America East) won its first America East Championship since 2000 last season, knocking off both the number one and two seeds in the process. Senior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter), who already had the 2007 Rookie of the Year and the 2008 Player of the Year awards in her back pocket, nabbed the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. Despite losing seven letterwinners from a year ago, the Catamounts still return over 60 percent of their scoring and nearly 57 percent of their minutes played last year. The one-two punch of Pilypaitis and classmate May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Collegiate Institute) combined to average 29.2 points per game and were both tabbed preseason All-Conference selections by the head coaches this fall. Senior Alissa Sheftic (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) and junior Tonya Young (Canaan, N.H./Mascoma Valley Regional) round out the four returning starters, combining for another 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Before the conference slate begins, the Catamounts will get an early look into where they stand on the national level as they have a December 3 rematch with National Champion Connecticut, who defeated the America East Champions in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
The Hawks (20-12, 14-2) also return two preseason All-Conference picks for the 2009-10 season in senior forwards Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) and Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill). Hartford has led the conference in scoring defense for five straight seasons, but this year it also returns three of its top four scorers from a year ago. Delva led the team with 11.7 points per game, while Beverly and sophomore Ilicia Mathis (Hamden, Conn./Hill Regional Career) finished second and fourth with 11.1 and 8.4 points per game, respectively. The Hawks, four-time league champions, bowed out of the tournament before the title game for the first time since 2004, and will be anxious to return to the final once again, especially with guaranteed home court advantage at Chase Arena through the semifinal round.
Binghamton (14-17, 8-8) is projected to move up a spot from last year’s fourth-place regular-season finish. Rookie of the Year Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) is the main ball distributor for the Bearcats, finishing fourth in America East with 4.06 assists per game, and third in conference games with 4.81 assists per game. Holmes was also the team’s second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg) behind senior Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central)who averaged 10.5 points per game. Sophomore Viive Rebane, (Talinn, Estonia/Audentes School) an all-rookie team member, should be the Bearcats’ top threat on the glass, collecting 6.4 boards per conference game. Head Coach Nicole Scholl, in her first year leading the program, brought her squad to the semifinals of the conference tournament and was just four points away from knocking off the top seed and making Binghamton’s first appearance in the title game.
New Hampshire (8-23, 6-10) doesn’t lose a single letterwinner from a year ago, much less any starters, giving the Wildcats depth in experience. A four-member senior class is led by second-team all-conference selection Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass./St. Raphael (R.I.)), who led the team in scoring (16.1 ppg) and the league in rebounding (8.1 rpg) last season. While Head Coach Kristin Cole often had a lack of bodies on the bench in 2008-09 due to injuries, she’ll have an abundance this season with the return of 2008 Rookie of the Year Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) and sophomore Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North), as well as sophomore transfer Kelley Flynn (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton) from University of Richmond.
Boston U. (25-8, 16-0) is coming off the program’s best season which included an undefeated conference regular season and its first appearance in the postseason WNIT. However, nearly the whole core of that team has graduated, including three first-team all-conference selections. Senior forward Aly Hinton (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock) is the team’s top returner in points (8.0 ppg), rebounds (4.9 rpg), assists (1.0 apg) and steals (18). During her freshman campaign, sophomore Alex Young (Hickory, N.C./St. Stephen’s) averaged 4.1 points per game from off the bench, improving to 5.1 points per game in league play. Six freshmen, three guards and three forwards, also join the Terriers in 2009-10.
UMBC (14-16, 6-10) returns 96 percent of its scoring from an offense that ranked second in the conference with 69.4 points per game. The lone senior for the Retrievers is Carlee Cassidy(Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill), a two-time all-conference selection who has led the league in scoring for each of the past two years. Cassidy averaged 20.4 points per game last season and sunk a whopping 2.7 three-pointers per game, good for 16th in the country. The Retrievers won their first America East Championship during Cassidy’s rookie season, and the senior would like to wrap up her career the same way it began.
Four Stony Brook (6-23, 4-12) starters return to build on a seventh-place finish in 2009. Junior forward Kirsten Jeter, (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) a third-team all-conference honoree, is the top returning scorer with 12.5 points per game, but she averaged nearly 15 points against America East opponents. Junior guard Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa./Cheltenham), the team’s primary ball handler with 3.5 assists per game, also scored in double-figures, which increased to 11.1 points per game during the conference slate of games.
The Black Bears (5-25, 3-13) played a lot of young talent in their starting lineup last year, and hope the game experience will pay off dividends. A trio of seniors in guards Amanda Tewksbury (Clinton, N.J./North Hunterdon), Kristin Baker (Bingham, Maine/Upper Kennebec Valley) and forward Katia Bratishko (Annandale, Va./Flint Hill) will lead the young group, which includes four sophomores and five freshmen. The only junior on the squad, Tanna Ross (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy), is the top returning scorer with 7.2 points per game.
Albany (6-25, 3-13) came on strong late last season, winning three of its final five regular season games and nearly upsetting top-seeded Boston U. in the America East Championship quarterfinals as the eight seed. Senior Charity Iromuanya (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Northeast) and sophomore Tabitha Makopondo (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz), the top returning scorers with 5.5 points per game each, will be relied upon as the Great Danes welcome seven newcomers into the mix.