CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of Hartford senior forward Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) is the recipient of the America East Player of the Week award for the period ending January 24, while Boston University freshman guard Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) once again picks up the league's Rookie of the Week honor.
Beverly, a three-time all-conference award recipient, receives the award for the second time in her career. The 6-0 forward led Hartford to a 3-0 week, extending the Hawks' unbeaten streak to nine games. Beverly averaged a double-double with 11.3 points and 10 rebounds per game, while also adding 3.3 assists, 3.0 blocks and 1.0 steal in just 26 minutes per game.
Beverly started the week with a 13-point, three-rebound, four-assist performance against Maine where she went 5-for-8 from the field (.625). On the road in Boston, Beverly recorded 11 points and 16 rebounds to propel the Hawks to a win against a hot Terrier squad. She added three assists and four blocks in the game. To cap off the week, Beverly added another double-double and four more blocks in a win against Albany. She scored 10 points and collected 11 boards, while handing out three assists in 23 minutes.
Beverly, a unanimous preseason all-conference selection, is second on the team in both scoring (9.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg).
Alford extends her reign on the Rookie of the Week award to four weeks, including her fifth honor of the season. The rookie averaged 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 assists in three games and shot 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from beyond the three-point arc.
Alford's most outstanding effort came in the first game of the week as she scored a game-high 28 points to lead Boston U. to a victory over 24th-ranked Vermont, the program's first-ever win over a nationally-ranked opponent. Alford added six rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks, while shooting 64.3 percent from the floor and 71.4% (5-for-7) from three-point range. She came up with nine points, seven rebounds and five steals against Hartford later that week, and returned to double-figured scoring on Sunday against UMBC where she finished with 16 points. Alford also finished the game against the Retrievers with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.
The freshman ranks second in the conference with 15.2 points and 2.8 steals per game.
Honor Roll
The best of the rest last week....
Courtnay Pilypaitis, Sr., G, Vermont
15.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 6.0 apg, 2.7 spg
Erica Carter, Sr., G, Binghamton
21.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 47.5 3FG%
Kirsten Jeter, Jr., F, Stony Brook
12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 4.0 spg, 1.5 apg
Battle At The Top
Vermont will host Hartford on Tuesday, January 26, a game televised on New England Sports Network and part of the America East Television package. The 7-0 Hawks and 6-1 Catamounts sit atop the league standings and are winners of the last two America East Championships. Vermont was the preseason pick of the coaches to take the conference title, but Hartford was just a point behind in second place. Eric Frede will call the game, while Leah Secondo will have the color analysis. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Patrick Gym in Burlington. The game is also available for free at www.AmericaEast.tv.
Poll Position
Vermont and Hartford have 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the latest edition of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll announced earlier today. The Catamounts had entered the AP Poll at #24 last week for the first time since March 15, 1993 when the program entered the NCAA Tournament that year ranked 18th. In the most current USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, released every Tuesday, the Hawks received 13 votes, while the Catamounts earned four. Both teams have received votes in the polls throughout the entire 2009-10 regular season.
America East In The RPI Report
This week's edition of Collegiate Basketball News' RPI Report ranks America East 14th among 33 Division conferences, down two spots since last week's report. In comparison, the league ranked 20th a year ago. The improvement can be heavily attributed to the league's non-conference strength of schedule, which ranked seventh-toughest in the country. Only four other non-FBS conferences rank higher than America East in the RPI: Colonial (8th), Atlantic-10 (9th), Missouri Valley (11th) and WCC (13th). America East teams have a combined 14-11 record against those three leagues, including an 11-6 mark against the A-10. The highest the conference has been ranked in the final RPI is 11th in 2005-06. Last season when the league tied a record with three teams in the postseason, America East finished with an RPI rank of 24.
The Teams In The RPI Report
Hartford (28) leapfrogged Vermont (46) as the highest ranked team from the conference. Eight of the nine teams are ranked higher in this week's RPI than where they finished in last season's final ranking, with Maine seeing the biggest improvement (92 spots, 231). The top four teams, including the Hawks, Catamounts, Boston U. (141) and UMBC (154) combined for 10 wins against teams in the top 100. Binghamton (191), the league's fifth-highest rated team, played eight top-100 teams, the most of any league member, but was not able to pick up a victory against any of those teams.
Against The Best
To get into postseason tournaments - and then succeed in them - you must compete against the best teams. Over a third of the league's non-conference games this year (45 of 113) were against teams which qualified for the NCAA or WNIT postseason tournaments last season. Below is how the league fared against those teams.
vs. NCAA Teams 5-16 (.238)
->wins over Dartmouth (x2), Temple, Sacred Heart, Louisville
vs. WNIT Teams 7-17 (.292)
->wins over Central Conn., Harvard, Boston College, Coppin State, Dayton, Bowling Green, Canisius
vs. All Postseason Teams 12-33 (.267)
Out Of League, Out of Sight
The regular-season non-conference schedule is officially complete with the conference finishing with a 51-62 (.451) record against some of the toughest competition in the country. It is the highest non-conference winning percentage since the 2006-07 season when the league finished at 56-60 (.483).
Star Tracker
Throughout the season, we will track the statistics of the five players named to the preseason all-conference team by the coaches.
Player, Team Key Stats
E. Beverly, UH 9.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.4 bpg
C. Pilypaitis, UVM 14.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.3 apg
M. Kotsopoulos, UVM 18.4 ppg, 46% FG, 1.7 spg
C. Cassidy, UMBC 13.4 ppg, 2.3 3FGM, 2.2 apg
D. Delva, UH 13.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 65.4% FG
Two to One-Thousand
A pair of America East players reached the 1,000-point milestone last week. Binghamton senior Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill./Naperville) was the first to do so on Monday, January 18 as part of a career night. She scored a career-high 27 points in the Bearcats' victory over the Retrievers to reach the mark. On Sunday, January 24 in Binghamton, New Hampshire senior Amy Simpson (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) accomplished the same feat, scoring eight points to place her at exactly 1,000 points for her career. Carter and Simpson join Hartford's Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) and New Hampshire's Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass./St. Raphael) as the third and fourth players to eclipse the point total this season. There are currently eight active America East players with at least 1,000 career points.
Clawing Away
There are two more players within striking distance of the 1,000-point milestone. Boston University senior Aly Hinton (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock) has 976 career points, while Stony Brook junior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) sits at 908 points.
A Little Unpredictable
Home teams have typically proved to have the upper hand in America East play, owning a 43-29 (.597) record in 2008-09. So far in 2009-10 though, home teams have a winning percentage of just .452 (14-17). Hartford and Vermont are the only teams not to have a conference loss on their home court this year. This should be something to watch as the conference season progresses to see if this is indeed a trend.
Efficiency Is The Name Of The Game
Hartford senior center Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) is on a torrid shooting pace that doesn't seem to let up anytime soon. Delva ranks first in America East and second in the country in field-goal shooting percentage with a .654 mark, nearly 10 percent more efficient than the second-best percentage. She is challenging the conference single-season record of .649 set by New Hampshire's Pam Brandell during the 1996-97 season. Through 19 games, Delva is 104-for-159 from the floor while averaging 13.6 points per game.
Streaking in America East
Boston University picked up another win last week to extend its regular-season conference game winning streak to 25 games before having it snapped against Hartford. Only twice in league history have there been longer such streaks. Maine won 39 straight against America East opponents over three seasons, while Vermont won 31 straight spanning four seasons.
# wins Team Started Ended
38 Maine Jan 28, 1995 Jan. 30, 1997
31 Vermont Mar 2, 1991 Jan. 20, 1994
25 Boston U. Feb. 27. 2008 Jan. 21, 2010
Triple The Delight
Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter) completed her third career triple-double on Sunday, January 10 against Albany to give her one in each of her last three seasons. Her performance of 12 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists was the 17th triple-double in Division I this season, and her rebounds total was the highest of any of the triple-double efforts this season. All three of her feats have been of the points, rebounds, assists variety.
TV Record
America East was 7-4 in non-conference televised games this season. Two of those losses came against top-ranked Connecticut on CPTV. The next televised women's game is Hartford's visit to Vermont on Tuesday, January 26. The game will air live on NESN beginning at 7 p.m.
Coaching Milestones
Vermont Head Coach Sharon Dawley reached a career mark with her team's win over Maine on January 7. Dawley earned her 250th career coaching win and now enters this week with a career record of 254-145 (.637) over 16 seasons. Earlier this season, Hartford Head Coach Jennifer Rizzotti reached her 200th career victory on December 21 in the Hawks' win over Coppin State at Chase Arena. Rizzotti, who has spent her entire coaching career in West Hartford, has a 208-119 (.636) record. Boston University's Kelly Greenberg (186 wins) and UMBC's Phil Stern (183) are next up to reach the 200-win mark. Greenberg also just picked up her 100th victory with the Terrier program on Wednesday, January 13 at Stony Brook.
Home Cookin'
Home courts have been kind to both Hartford and Albany this year. The Hawks own an unblemished 9-0 mark at home this season, while the Great Danes are 5-3, but started out going 5-0 for the first time in their Division I history. Hartford puts its record to the test against UMBC on February 2, while Albany returns to SEFCU Arena on Thursday, January 28 when it hosts Maine at 7 p.m.
Nine of a Kind
Binghamton senior guard Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill./Naperville) tied an all-time conference single-game record on December 7 at Bryant with nine three-pointers. The nine three's, a school record, tied former Great Dane Jen Schumacher who achieved the feat against conference foe Vermont in 2005, and was part of Carter's 35-point performance.
Raining Three's
Vermont's Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter), UMBC's Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) and Binghamton's Carter are all climbing up the America East record book for three-pointers made. Pilypaitis remains in second place in conference history with 233 career treys made. Cassidy, with 224 long field-goals, leaps into third place, only behind Pilypaitis and Northeastern's Melissa Kowalski ('04) who holds the record of 245. Carter jumped into the eighth spot last week with 199 career three-pointers made. All three are already the all-time leaders at their respective schools and rank 1-2-3 in America East this season.
All-Time Three-Point Field Goals Made
1. 245, Melissa Kowalski, Northeastern, 00-04
2. 233, Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont, 06-
3. 224, Carlee Cassidy, UMBC, 06-
4. 222, MaryLynne Schaefer, Hartford, 05-09
5. 219, Cindy Blodgett, Maine, 94-98
6. 210, Ashley Underwood, Maine, 03-07
7. 208, Kristi Dini, Boston U., 05-09
8. 199, Erica Carter, Binghamton, 06-
9. 197, Jen Schumacher, Albany, 02-06
Helping Hand
Pilypaitis is also among the league's all-time elite in dishing out assists. She handed out 18 assists last week to pass Lori Taylor '98 as Vermont's all-time leader. Pilypaitis' total of 578 handouts also puts her third all-time in conference history. Pilypaitis' 500th assist earlier this season made her the first-ever America East player to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.
All-Time Assists
1. 759, Amy Vachon, Maine, 96-00
2. 605, Maureen DiJulia, Hartford, 94-99
3. 578, Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont, 06-
4. 571, Lori Taylor, Vermont, 94-98
5. 554, Christine Kinneary, Boston U., 05-09
6. 487, Cindy Blodgett, Maine, 94-98
7. 475, Andrea Higgins, Boston U., 89-93
ALBANY GREAT DANES (7-12, 0-6 AE)
After beginning the 2009-10 campaign with a 7-6 record, UAlbany ended last week on a six-game skid after dropping America East Conference games to Stony Brook, 46-37, New Hampshire, 87-77, and Hartford by a 59-36 score… The Great Danes, who do not have a player averaging twin figures in scoring, shot under 25 percent in the losses to the Seawolves and Hawks… UAlbany’s 77 points against New Hampshire were the most since the squad soundly defeated Cornell, 80-55, on Nov. 29, but the Wildcats shot 57.9 percent from the field to pull out the road win… A different newcomer paced the squad in each game… Freshman Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) registered her third double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds against Stony Brook, while classmate Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) had a career afternoon with 16 points, six rebounds and six steals on the road versus Hartford… Melia Basavand (Glendale, Calif./Glendale/Pasadena City) canned seven three-point field goals and finished with 21 points in the New Hampshire loss… Basavand’s three-point total was two off the program’s single-game record … UAlbany’s newcomers account for 31.8 of the squad’s 55.9 points per game… Forster ranks first among America East freshmen in rebounding (7.4 pg), blocked shots (1.3 pg) and field goal percentage (.416)… UAlbany wraps up the first half of its conference slate when it hosts Maine on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. and travels to Binghamton for a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Jan. 30.
BINGHAMTON BEARCATS (7-13, 3-4 AE)
Senior guard Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill.) became the 12th player in Binghamton program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career during the Bearcats’ win at UMBC on Jan. 18. She finished the game with a career-high 27 points. She also netted 20 points in the Bearcats game at Maine on Jan. 21. Carter, who is averaging a team-best 14.3 points per game, has now reached the 20-point mark four times this season and six times during her career. She is on track to finish with the highest Binghamton scoring average since Rachel Laws (14.7 ppg.) during the 2003-04 campaign. In her last four games, Carter has averaged 21.0 points per contest… Sophomore point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) now has a pair of games this season in which she has reached double-figures in assists. She is now averaging 5.45 assists per game, the highest Binghamton average since Kate Townley (5.50 apg.) during the 2002-03 season... Sophomore forward Viive Rebane (Talinn, Estonia/Audentes School) has now reached double figures in her last three games, averaging 15.7 points per game during that span.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS (9-10, 5-2 AE)
The Boston University women's basketball upended No. 24 Vermont last week, backed by a career-best performance by freshman Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn.), who drained 28 points in the upset victory. Spurred by a 17-3 run in the first half that closed a 16-point deficit, the Terriers picked up their first-ever win over a ranked opponent. Freshman Caitlynn Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) added 20 points in the contest, including a 10-for-14 showing at the charity stripe. The difference in the win was Boston U.'s free-throw shooting as it hit 20-of-26 chances. Two days later, Boston U. fell to Hartford, 52-44, despite rallying from an 18-point deficit with a 13-0 run in the second half; however, the Hawks held on for the eight point victory. Junior Kerry Cashman (Newfields, N.H./Exeter) scored a season-high 10 points and brought down six boards. To close out the week, the Terriers suffered a 65-63 loss at the hands of UMBC, despite a trio of freshmen in double-digits (Alford, 16 pts; Moran, 10; Kristen Sims 10). Boston U. will travel to UNH on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game before hosting Maine on Saturday at 2 p.m.
HARTFORD HAWKS (16-3, 7-0 AE)
The Hawks extended their current winning streak to nine games with three wins over the last seven days… They opened the week with a 76-39 win over Maine, the largest margin of victory this season… They then went on the road to hand the Boston University Terriers their first loss of the season (52-44), becoming the only unbeaten team in the America East Conference and taking over sole possession of first place in the conference… The Hawks then returned home for a Sunday afternoon win (59-56) over Maine to close out the week… For the week, Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) led the team, averaging a double double… She finished with two double-doubles on the week, including an 11-point, 16-rebound effort against the Terriers, with the 16 rebounds tying her career high… She put up a 13-point performance, the best of the week for the senior, against Maine… Senior Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) and freshman Ruthanne Doherty (Richmond, Va./L.C. Bird) were second and third on the team in scoring… Delva opened and closed the week with 16-point performances against Maine and Albany … She also averaged eight rebounds for the week, finished with nine against Maine, seven against Boston U. and eight against Albany… Doherty’s highlight for the week came against Boston University where she finished with a career-high 15 points, which led the Hawks in the game… Hartford will put its win streak and unbeaten record in conference play on the line twice in the coming week, the first against the coaches’ preseason favorite to win the America East Conference, Vermont, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. live from Patrick Gymnasium on NESN… Hartford will then close out the week with Stony Brook as they turn the corner and begin the second trip through the conference… The Hawks and Seawolves will play at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Stony Brook, N.Y.
MAINE BLACK BEARS (6-13, 2-5 AE)
Maine earned its second conference win and its first at home with a 55-51 win over Binghamton Thursday. Samantha Wheeler (Derry, N.H./Timberlane Regional) led the Black Bears with her third career double-double. Nine of her 11 rebounds came on the offensive end of the court. Maine cut down on its turnovers and committed the fewest of the season. The Black Bears had turned the ball over 20 times in the last two games but cut it down to 13 against the Bearcats. Maine also recorded a positive assist to turnover ratio. Maine was also dominant on the glass, pulling down over 50 rebounds for the first time this season. It held a 53-37 advantage on the boards. The defense allowed only four players to record a basket and held the Bearcats to 30 percent shooting.
UMBC RETRIEVERS (9-11, 3-4 AE)
UMBC dropped a pair of home games to Binghamton and Vermont last week before defeating Boston University on the road… Four Retrievers scored in double figures in an 80-63 loss to the Bearcats on Monday… Sophomore guard Katie Brooks (Maryville, Tenn./Heritage) led UMBC with 13 points, while senior guard Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) tallied 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds… The Retrievers dropped their third straight on Thursday, falling to the 24th-ranked Catamounts, 79-51, in front of 2,023 fans on Midday Madness, a RAC Arena record crowd for a women’s basketball game… Junior guard Chelsea Barker (Waterville, Maine/Messalonskee) was the only Retriever in double figures with 10 points… UMBC picked up a big 65-63 road win against the Terriers on Sunday… It was the Retrievers’ sixth win on the road this season, the most by a UMBC team since the 1998-99 squad won a school Division I-record eight games away from home… UMBC was 1-10 on the road last season… Cassidy scored a game-high 18 points on five three-pointers and added six assists and five rebounds… She now ranks third all-time in America East history with 224 career triples, a Retriever record, and she is 30th with 1,496 career points, second all-time at UMBC… Sophomore center Topé Obajolu (Randallstown, Md./Archbishop Carroll) scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while junior forward Meghan Colabella (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) posted a game-high 12 rebounds…UMBC made 10 three-pointers in the game, the most since Dec. 12 at Coppin State… Down by one, Brooks buried a triple with 1:47 remaining to put the Retrievers up two, and Cassidy hit three of four free throws in the final 19 seconds to all but seal the victory… Obajolu is averaging 12.1 ppg and shooting 56.6 percent from the floor in seven conference games after scoring just 5.2 ppg in 13 non-league contests, and 17 of her team-high 24 blocks have come against America East opponents… The Retrievers host Stony Brook on Thursday in their only game this week.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (7-13, 2-5 AE)
Last time out the University of New Hampshire women’s basketball team fell to Binghamton University, 83-59, on January 24 at the Events Center... Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass.) was named America East Player of the Game for New Hampshire, notching 12 points, seven boards and two assists … She now has 1,132 points and 618 rebounds in her career and is one of just eight Wildcats all-time to tally at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds in program history… Cari Reed (Oswego, N.Y.) tallied a career-high 12 points and four rebounds in the contest… Lauren Wells (West Chester, Pa.) finished with 10 points and three steals… For UNH, it was first time three Wildcats scored in double digits since Williams (18), Jill McDonald (Middlebury. Vt.) (18) and Wells (12) did so against Louisville on Dec. 22… Amy Simpson (Waterford, Conn.) scored eight points in the game, making her the 15th Wildcat in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau… She is the first player in UNH history to notch over 1,000 points, 300 assists and 100 steals in program history… Simpson ranks third in the conference in assists, with an average of 5.1 per game this season ... McDonald has now tallied a block in 13 of the last 14 games .. She currently ranks second in the conference in blocks with 38 this season, which is good for an average of 2.1 per game... The ‘Cats rank second in the conference in blocked shots with 90.
STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (5-14, 3-4 AE)
Stony Brook split this week’s games, defeating Albany at home, 46-37, before losing its road contest with Vermont, 67-45… SBU led by as many as 21 points in the second half against Albany before the Great Danes mounted a comeback to pull within six… Freshman Sam Landers (Springfield, Va.) made a layup with 53 seconds remaining to help ice the game for the Seawolves… She led Stony Brook in scoring with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting… Stony Brook’s defense held Albany without a field goal for a stretch of 15:45 that spanned from the first half into the second… The 46 points were the fewest total points scored in a winning effort by the Seawolves in their Division I history… Junior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) led the way for SBU in its loss to Vermont with 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
VERMONT CATAMOUNTS (16-4, 6-1 AE)
Vermont went 2-1 on the week. The Catamounts returned to the national top 25 for the first time in 17 years when they were ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25 Poll dated Jan. 18. With the two wins on the week UVM improved to 25-3 when it is ranked in the top 25 all-time. Senior Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter) added the all-time assist mark at UVM to her impressive resume. She broke the mark of 571 assists set by Lori Taylor '98 and also moved into third among the all-time assist leaders in the league. In the season opener versus Western Michigan, Pilypaitis broke Taylor's mark in three-point field goals as well. She scored a game-high 21 points to lead UVM past Stony Brook and averaged 15.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.7 steals on the week. Freshman Kendra Seto (Oshawa, Ontario) and junior Tonya Young (Canaan, N.H.) each posted double-doubles to lead UVM past UMBC in Baltimore. Seto registered career-highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Young add 21 points and 10 boards. Seto averaged 13.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line on the week. Senior Sofia Iwobi (Fairfield, Iowa/Maharishi School) became the fourth Vermont senior to play in 100 career games against Stony Brook. The senior class has combined for a four-year record of 80-37, the seventh most in school history over a four-year period. UVM's margin of victory in home league games is 32.7 points. Vermont is off to its best start in league play, 6-1, under Head Coach Sharon Dawley and this is the best start for the Catamounts in conference action since the 1997-98 campaign (9-1). Vermont wraps up a three-game homestand hosting Hartford on Tuesday (Jan. 24) at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised on NESN and also hosts New Hampshire on Sunday (Jan. 31) at 2 p.m.