CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of Vermont senior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter) and Boston University freshman guard Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) are the recipients of the first women's basketball weekly awards of 2010. Pilypaitis picks up her ninth career America East Player of the Week award, and second this season. Alford earns her second Rookie of the Week honor. Both awards are for the week ending January 3.
Pilypaitis led Vermont to a 3-0 week, including a victory in the conference season-opener. The senior guard posted back-to-back double-doubles, including a 22-point, 17-rebound effort at New Hampshire on Saturday. Two of her game-high 22 points came on the game-winning put back of her own missed layup with 0.9 seconds remaining, lifting Vermont to the important league win.
Earlier in the week, the Catamounts captured the Blue Sky Classic played at Dartmouth with wins over Dayton and URI. Pilypaitis scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and collected five steals in the win over the Flyers, a fellow mid-major force. She added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, along with four assists and four steals in a victory over URI to help UVM win the championship.
For the week, Pilypaitis averaged a double-double of 15.7 points and 12 rebounds per game as well as 3.0 assists, 3.6 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. The senior shot 41% (16-for-39) from the field, including 40% (8-for-20) from three-point range and went 7-for-10 from the charity stripe. With eight treys last week, Pilypaitis tied Maine's Cindy Blodgett for third all-time with 219 career made-three's.
Alford led the Terrier scoring in two of the team's three games last week, including back-to-back 20-point performances on the road. The repeat rookie award-winner averaged 17.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.0 steals and 0.3 blocks per game all while shooting 40.7% from the field and 33% from long-distance.
In the upset of the SEC's South Carolina on a neutral floor, Alford registered 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and a career-high five steals. The next day against host St. Joseph's in the championship game, the rookie poured in a career-best 20 points while also finishing with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in a career-high 38 minutes on the court. On Sunday at Boston College, she matched her 20-point effort and added three more rebounds, an assist and two swipes.
The rookie is in the league's top 10 for scoring, free-throw percentage, steals and blocked shots.
Honor Roll
The best of the rest last week....
Samantha Wheeler, Maine, So., F
14 ppg, 12 rpg, 3 apg, 2 spg, 92.6% FT
Diana Delva, Hartford, Sr., C
17.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 3.5 bpg, 80% FG
Denise Beliveau, New Hampshire, So., F
14 ppg, 5 rpg, 46.4% FG
Carlee Cassidy, UMBC, Sr., G
17.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, 42.3% 3FG, 88.9% FT
Fast Start
With just four non-league tilts remaining, including two tonight, the conference currently owns a 49-60 (.449) record in non-conference action 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).
America East In The RPI Report
This week's edition of Collegiate Basketball News' RPI Report ranks America East 12th among 33 Division conferences, equal with last week's position. In comparison, the league ranked 21st a year ago. The improvement can be heavily attributed to the league's strength of schedule, which ranks seventh-toughest in the country. Only three other non-FBS conferences ranked higher than America East: Atlantic-10 (8th), Colonial (9th), and Missouri Valley (10th). 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
Vermont (14) and Hartford (33) are ranked in the RPI Report's top 100. Eight of the nine teams are ranked higher in this week's RPI than where they finished in last season's final ranking. The largest leap is University of New Hampshire, who finished 2008-09 288th and is now rated 168: a jump of 120 spots. UMBC (244/146), Vermont (109/14), Maine (323/235) and Albany (319/238) have all also seen improvements of at least 81 places.
Poll Position
Both Vermont and Hartford received votes in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Top 25 Poll released on December 28, while Vermont garnered 16 votes in the first AP Poll of the new year released today, just five places out of the Top 25. The Catamounts received six votes in the coaches' poll, while the Hawks earned one vote. Both teams have been receiving recognition throughout the regular season, while Hartford also received votes in the preseason poll.
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 (43 of 109) have been against teams which qualified for the NCAA or WNIT postseason tournaments last season. Below is how the league has fared against those teams.
vs. NCAA Teams 5-15 (.250)
->wins over Dartmouth (x2), Temple, Sacred Heart, Louisville
vs. WNIT Teams 7-16 (.304)
->wins over Central Conn., Harvard, Boston College, Coppin State, Dayton, Bowling Green, Canisius
vs. All Postseason Teams 12-31 (.279)
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 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.5 bpg
C. Pilypaitis, UVM 15.4 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.1 spg
M. Kotsopoulos, UVM 18 ppg, 42.5% FG, 1.7 spg
C. Cassidy, UMBC 13.2 ppg, 2.4 3FGM, 33% 3FG
D. Delva, UH 14.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.3 bpg, 63.9% FG
TV Record
America East is 7-4 in non-conference televised games this season. Two of those losses came against top-ranked Connecticut on CPTV. Both of the next television games will involve Binghamton. The Bearcats will televise their matchup with Stony Brook this Saturday regionally on Time Warner, while the first women's game of the America East Television package on January 18 pits Binghamton and Hartford at the Events Center and can be seen live on New England Sports Network or Time Warner, as well as online at AmericaEast.tv.
Coaching Milestone
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 202-119 (.629) record and is only the second active America East coach to reach the milestone, the other being Vermont's Sharon Dawley with 241 career wins. Boston University's Kelly Greenberg (181 wins) and UMBC's Phil Stern (180) are next up to reach that mark.
Clawing Away
New Hampshire senior forward Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass./St. Raphael) reached the 1,000-point plateau at home against Louisville on December 22 during her 18-point performance. She is the second America East player to hit the mark this season and with 1,007 points and 548 rebounds, is the fourth active player to have at least 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. Wildcat classmate guard Amy Simpson (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) currently sits at 937 career points and could be the next America East player to conquer the career points milestone. Behind her is Binghamton's Erica Carter (Naperville, Ill./Naperville) with 920 and Boston University's Aly Hinton (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock) with 910.
Home Cookin'
Home courts have been kind to both Hartford and Albany this year. The Hawks own an unblemished 7-0 mark at home this season, while the Great Danes are 5-1. The Hawks have been known for their home-court success in the past, winning four America East Championships at Chase Arena in West Hartford. The Great Danes made program history, going 5-0 at SEFCU Arena for the first time in its Division I history, before dropping their first home game to Rhode Island. Hartford will have to wait until January 18th to put its record to the test against Maine, while Albany will try to improve its record at SEFCU when it hosts UMBC on January 13.
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) and UMBC's Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) are both climbing up the America East record book for three-pointers made. Pilypaitis moved into a tie for third in conference history with all-time leading scorer Cindy Blodgett, who finished her career with 219. Cassidy, with 209 long field-goals, moved into sixth place past recent Boston U. grad Kristi Dini's 208. Cassidy and Pilypaitis, already the all-time leaders at their respective schools, are second and third in the league rankings this year with 2.4 and 2.1 three-pointers per game.
All-Time Three-Point Field Goals Made
1. 245, Melissa Kowalski, Northeastern, 00-04
2. 222, MaryLynne Schaefer, Hartford, 05-09
3. 219, Cindy Blodgett, Maine, 94-98
219, Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont, 06-
5. 210, Ashley Underwood, Maine, 03-07
6. 209, Carlee Cassidy, UMBC, 06-
7. 208, Kristi Dini, Boston U., 05-09
8. 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 nine assists last week to bring her total to 535, currently fifth all-time. Recent Boston University graduate Christine Kinneary is the next player on the list with 554 career helpers in fourth place. 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. 571, Lori Taylor, Vermont, 94-98
4. 554, Christine Kinneary, Boston U., 05-09
5. 535, Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont, 06-
6. 487, Cindy Blodgett, Maine, 94-98
7. 475, Andrea Higgins, Boston U., 89-93
Dead River Returns
University of Maine held its 17th annual Dead River Company Classic earlier this year in what is the longest running regular season tournament hosted by an America East school. Initiated in 1993-94 under head coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie, the Dead River Company Classic is always held early in the season and attracts prominent programs such as Florida, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Georgia and Clemson. The Black Bears defeated Buffalo, 58-53 in the consolation game this year, while Penn State took the tournament title with 52-48 win over Holy Cross on Saturday.
Hartford Downs Ranked Foe Again
In what is becoming a common occurrance, Hartford defeated a ranked opponent when the Hawks upended #19/23 Louisville, 62-50 Tuesday night (11/17) at Chase Arena. It was the fifth straight season Hartford has defeated a team ranked nationally. Below is a breakdown of those victories.
November 17, 2009 62-50, #19/23 Louisville
November 21, 2008 53-51, #5/6 Duke
December 22, 2007 54-51, #23 Michigan State
December 2, 2006 60-43, #23/22 BYU
March 19, 2006 64-58, #23 Temple
Returning Champs Are Back At It
Eight months removed from their America East Championship in March, Vermont is back to doing what they've been doing best - winning. The Catamounts opened the season winning the tournament title at the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational hosted by NC State. UVM beat the MAC's Western Michigan by a 79-65 score Friday night (11/13), then beat host NC State, 52-47, on Saturday night (11/14). Senior guards May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Collegiate) and Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter) were both named to the all-tournament team, with Kotsopoulos earning MVP honors.
Back In The Game
The 2008 Rookie of the Year Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) of University of New Hampshire is back for her sophomore season after a season-long hiatus due to injury. Out to prove that the time away from the court won't cause a sophomore slump, the 5-foot-11 forward powered the Wildcats to a season-opening win over St. Joseph's with 21 points, nine rebounds and two assists. As a rookie she averaged 10 points, 6.2 rebounds, two assists and two steals per game.
Class Act
Vermont's May Kotsopoulos, a business administration major with a GPA of 3.67, was named one of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Women's Basketball Award. She is the two-time Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete and was the team MVP for the America East champion Catamounts. Kotosopoulos is the second straight Catamount to be selected as a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Women's Basketball Award. Former standout Amy Rosenkrantz '09 earned the honor last season.
Wooden Award
University of Hartford's Erica Beverly (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) was named a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award, the most prestigious award in college basketball. Beverly was one of 31 candidates announced over the summer. These players and others who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for December’s midseason list and the official ballot released in March. She finished her junior year averaging 11.1 ppg and led the team at 7.2 rpg, while being named to the America East All-Conference First Team and to the All-Defensive Team. She also led the team in blocked shots with 61, on the way becoming the school’s all-time shot blocker. Beverly also finished second on the team with 68 assists.
Good Things Come In TV Packages
During the regular season, America East, in partnership with ESPN Regional Television, will produce 14 games, which will be distributed among regional sports networks and local carriers. Eric Frede returns as the play-by-play announcer for America East basketball. Frank Sullivan, who coached in the ranks for 33 years, returns for his third season as men’s basketball color analyst. Leah Secondo, a veteran of America East television productions, is the color analyst for women’s basketball games.
The conference television slate begins Jan. 2 when Stony Brook battles Boston University on MSG and NESN at Case Gym, site of last year’s four-overtime thriller between the two schools. In women’s action, Vermont will host Hartford on Jan. 26 on NESN in a rematch of a 2009 semifinal game.
Both America East Championship games will be aired live on Saturday, March 13. The men’s title bout will take place at 12 p.m. on ESPN2, marking the 23rd straight year the conference championship has been nationally televised. The women’s championship contest will be televised on Comcast Sports Net at 8 p.m. All four semifinal contests will be aired regionally on Sunday, March 7 from Hartford’s Chase Arena, site of the 2010 America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship Presented by Newman's Own.
As result of a partnership with Pack Network, each of the conference-produced games will also be streamed and available for free at AmericaEast.tv, the league’s new home for live webcasts. First-round and quarterfinal action from the America East Men’s & Women’s Championship will also be aired on the new site.
Coming To A TV Near You
America East will produce four episodes of America East On Campus, a 30-minute magazine show devoted to showcasing the conference’s best and brightest student-athletes. The fifth-year show, which will air on regional sports networks including NESN beginning in January, is hosted by Frede, who produces the show along with his Cod Rock Media Productions partner, Dan Hannigan.
A Return To Familiar Ground
For the first time in the league’s history, the 2010 America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will be held in a combined tournament format at the University of Hartford’s 3,508-seat Chase Arena in West Hartford, Conn. March 4-7, 2010. The first, quarterfinal and semifinal rounds for both the men and women will be held at the combined tournament, while the title games will both be held the following weekend at the site of highest seeds remaining.
Both first round games will be held Thursday, March 4, while the women’s quarterfinals will follow on Friday, March 5. The men’s quarterfinals will be scheduled for Saturday, March 6 and both the men’s and women’s semifinal tilts will take place Sunday, March 7. The highest seeds remaining in both the men’s and women’s tournament will host the championship games on Saturday, March 13.
Newman's Own Signs Title Sponsorship
The America East Conference, the University of Hartford and Newman's Own, Inc. announced at this year's Media Day that Newman's Own, Inc. will serve as the title sponsor of the 2010 America East Men's and Women's Basketball Championship. The Championship trio of America East, University of Hartford and Newman's Own, Inc. will announce a plan later this year that will further cultivate the principles of community service, education and leadership among students from the nine conference campuses.
ALBANY GREAT DANES (6-6, 0-0 AE)
UAlbany has still matched its best 12-game record as a Division I program despite dropping both of its contests last week… The team was also 6-6 in 2002-03 and 2004-05… The Great Danes fell on the road to No. 13/14 Nebraska, 88-41, in their fifth game all-time against a nationally-ranked Division I program before suffering their first loss at home this season in a 65-60 decision versus Rhode Island… UAlbany was attempting to win its six opening home games for the first time since 1991-92… The Nebraska game was Charity Iromuanya’s (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Northeast) first return to her hometown since she led her high school team to the 2006 Class A state championship along with current Cornhusker Dominique Kelley… The senior, who registered a team-high 10 points, was greeted to cheers when she was introduced prior to the game, and received a standing ovation when she exited with 1:47 left in regulation … Iromuanya ranks second in the league in steals (2.9 pg)… Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) paced the Great Danes against Rhode Island, registering her second career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds… The forward ranks fourth overall and first among America East freshmen in rebounding (7.5 pg) as well as fifth overall and first among her classmates in field goal percentage (.447)… She is also tied for fifth in the league in steals (2.1 pg)… UAlbany wraps up its non-conference slate when it visits Brown on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. and opens up league play at Vermont on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m.
BINGHAMTON BEARCATS (3-9, 0-0 AE)
Binghamton has three home games this week, including America East Conference games against defending America East regular-season champion Boston University on Thursday and Stony Brook on Saturday. The game against Stony Brook will be aired regionally on Time Warner Sports... Sophomore point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) averaged 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals at the Fordham Holiday Classic last week. She poured in 28 points against East Carolina on Dec. 29, marking the third time this season and sixth time in her career that she has scored at least 20 points in a game. She is currently ranked first in the conference and No. 23 in the nation with 6.1 assists per game, which is the highest average in Binghamton program history since Stephanie Rom also averaged 6.1 assists during the 1995-96 season (at that point, the program was still competing at the Division III level)... Senior guard Erica Carter, who leads the Bearcats and is ranked seventh in the America East with 13.7 points per game, is 14th all time in school history with 920 career points. She needs three points to tie Reagan Stevens (1993-97) with 923 points.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS (4-8, 0-0 AE)
The Boston University women’s basketball team moved to 4-8 on the season and closed out the non-conference slate with a 1-2 record last week. The Terriers traveled to Philadelphia, Pa. at the beginning of the week and knocked off South Carolina, 68-67, to advance to the Saint Joseph’s Hawk Classic finals, where they faced-off with the hosts, but fell, 71-58, to Saint Joseph’s. To start the New Year and close out its non-conference slate, Boston made the short trek down Commonwealth Ave., and kept it close with the Atlantic Coast Conference foe Boston College, but fell just short, 69-61. Freshman Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) led the team in scoring in 2-of-3 games and recorded back-to-back 20-point games vs. Saint Joseph’s and Boston College, which was a career high. On Tuesday, Boston will kick off a three-game road stretch to open the America East Conference slate, beginning with Maine on Tuesday (Jan. 5) at 7 p.m. The Terriers will continue with Binghamton on Thursday (Jan. 7) and conclude the road stretch with Stony Brook on Wednesday (Jan. 12) at 7 p.m.
HARTFORD HAWKS (10-3, 1-0 AE)
The Hawks closed out the old calendar year and opened the New Year in the exact same fashion with home wins at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion… The Hawks opened the week with a 65-60 win over fellow mid-major power Bowling Green out of the MAC Conference on December 30 and then hosted Stony Brook for the America East opener, never trailing on the way to a 65-38 rout… Hartford was led by senior Diana Delva (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) who finished with 15 and 20 points in the two games, respectively… She opened the week missing only one of her six attempts, while missing two of nine against the Seawolves to improve upon her already team and conference leading season field-goal percentage (currently 63.9, 78-of-122)… Joining her in double figures in both games was rookie post Ruthanne Doherty (Richmond, Va./L.C. Bird) who finished with 10 points against Bowling Green and then added a season-high 14 in the conference opener… Against Stony Brook, the rookie finished 7-of-8 from the field, showing that she can hang with her senior teammate, Delva… Delva currently leads the Hawks in scoring and rebounding at 14.9 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game… The Hawks will play a pair of conference road games in the coming week, first at UMBC on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and then at New Hampshire for a Saturday afternoon game, scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
MAINE BLACK BEARS (4-8, 0-0 AE)
Maine went 2-1 on the weekend and set new season highs in scoring. The Black Bears broke their season average twice in the UTSA New Year’s Classic and scored 87 points in a win over Stephen F. Austin. The Black Bears also had five players in double figures against the Ladyjacks. Sophomore Samantha Wheeler (Derry N.H./Timberlane Regional) recorded double-digit rebound performances in all three contests and was named to the All-Tournament team. She tallied her first two career double-doubles in back-to-back contests in San Antonio. Maine had other career marks as well. Senior Kristin Baker scored 22 points against UTSA and played 40 minutes in both classic games. Senior Amanda Tewksbury recorded her 31st double-digit scoring performance and came within one point of tying her career high of 25 points at UMass.
UMBC RETRIEVERS (6-7, 0-0 AE)
UMBC went 2-1 last week, with a pair of victories at the Fordham Holiday Classic and a loss at Virginia Tech… Senior guard Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) scored a season-high 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including a career-high seven of 11 three-pointers, in the Retrievers’ 66-58 win against East Carolina on Dec. 28… Her second triple of the game was the 200th of her career, making her the seventh player in America East history to reach that milestone… Sophomore guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) posted her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds… UMBC shot 59 percent in the second half to overcome a six-point halftime deficit… A day later, Cassidy scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half in a 62-56 come-from-behind victory over Fordham… Down by 13 at halftime, the Retrievers opened the second stanza with a 17-2 run in the first six minutes to completely erase their deficit… Kurowski scored eight points in that stretch, including the game-tying three-pointer and a layup that gave UMBC the lead… She scored all 12 of her points in the second half and added a team-high seven rebounds… Cassidy moved into second place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list and now has 1,399 points in her career… She averaged 22.5 ppg and shot 48.3 percent with nine three-pointers in the tournament after averaging just 7.0 ppg and shooting 28 percent with just one triple in the previous three games… UMBC concluded the week with a 74-44 loss at Virginia Tech on Jan. 3… Kurowski was the only Retriever in double figures with 13 points… With 11 three-pointers on the week, Cassidy now has 209 in her career, ranking sixth all-time in America East history… The Retrievers now return home following a month-long six-game road trip in which they posted a 2-4 record to host America East rival Hartford in their conference opener on Jan. 6… UMBC then hits the road again to take on league foe Maine on Jan. 10.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (5-8, 0-1 AE)
Last time out the University of New Hampshire women’s basketball team fell short against Vermont, 53-55, on Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium… With the win, the Catamounts improved to 11-2 on the season and 1-0 in America East play, while the Wildcats fell to 5-8 on the year and 0-1 in conference play... The ‘Cats held the Catamounts to 33.3 percent shooting in the contest, while shooting a .375 clip from the floor… Junior Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt.) was named the America East Player of the Game for UNH, tallying 12 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two assists... McDonald has now tallied a block in each of the last nine games... Sophomore Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass.) finished the afternoon with 17 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal… Senior Amy Simpson (Waterford, Conn.) added two points, seven rebounds and seven assists… Senior Candace Williams (Norfolk, Mass.) chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds… In the game prior against No. 23 Syracuse University, the ‘Cats fell to the Orange 58-48, at Manley Field House... For the Orange, it was their second lowest offensive output this season... The Wildcats knocked down 10 three-pointers in the contest, marking the first time UNH has achieved the feat since draining 14 trifectas against Colgate on Dec. 5, 2008... Beliveau was named America East Player of the Game for UNH, scoring 18 points, tallying five rebounds, three assists and a steal on the night... Williams added 12 points, nine rebounds and two steals in the contest... McDonald chipped in with six points, three boards and a career-high seven blocks… Against Canisius College on Dec. 28, the Wildcats earned a 42-40 victory at Koessler Athletic Center… The Wildcats held the Golden Griffins to .267 shooting from the floor, marking the lowest shooting percentage the Wildcats have allowed as a defense this season... The 40 points scored by the Golden Griffins was the fewest points the Wildcats have given up this year.
STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (2-11, 0-1 AE)
Stony Brook struggled to find its way offensively as it dropped a pair of games this week… SBU averaged just 44.5 ppg while shooting 32 percent as a team in an 85-51 loss to UNC-Wilmington and a 65-38 loss to Hartford… Senior Joia Daniels (Silver Spring, Md.) scored a team-high 10 points against UNCW on 5-of-9 shooting… Junior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) chipped in eight while recording five steals… Jeter reached double-digits in the Seawolves conference-opener against Hartford, scoring 11… Junior Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa.) joined her in double-figures with 10… Horsey also dished out four assists in the game… Freshman Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) pulled down a career-high eight rebounds against the Hawks… SBU will host New Hampshire on Wednesday before traveling to Vestal, N.Y. to take on Binghamton on Saturday.
VERMONT CATAMOUNTS (11-2, 1-0 AE)
Vermont moved to 11-2 overall and 1-0 in league play during a 3-0 week. The Catamounts won the Blue Sky Classic hosted by Dartmouth with wins over Dayton (74-65) and Rhode Island (58-49). Junior Tonya Young (Canaan, N.H./Mascoma Valley Regional) pumped in a career-high 25 points behind a 5-for-5 effort from three-point range, to lead UVM past the Flyers. Young added 10 points and six rebounds in a win over URI to earn Tournament MVP honors. Senior May Kotsopoulos (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Collegiate) scored a team-high 19 points to lead UVM past URI and joined Young on the all-tournament team. It was UVM's second in-season tournament title of the year. The Catamounts opened league play with a 55-53 win at New Hampshire. Senior Courtnay Pilypaitis (Ottawa, Ontario/St. Peter) scored on a put back of her own miss with 0.9 seconds left to lift Vermont to the victory. Pilypaitis finished the game with 22 points and matched her career high with 17 rebounds for her second straight double-double of the week (11 pts, 10 reb vs. URI) and the fourth of the season. She also added four assists and a pair of steals. She was one rebound shy of three straight double-doubles on the week, adding 14 points and nine rebounds, as well as five steals, in the win over Dayton. The Catamounts are 9-1 away from Burlington this season and off to the best start since UVM's undefeated season in 1992-93 (28-0). Pilypaitis begins the week six points shy of moving into fourth among the all-time scoring leaders at UVM. With three three-pointers in the win over UNH, she tied current Maine head coach Cindy Blodgett for third among the America East all-time leaders in three-point field goals (219). Pilypaitis also surpassed the 700-rebound plateau and Kotsopoulos went over the 1,400-point mark. Vermont will play seven of its next nine games at Patrick Gym, beginning with a four-game homestand, which starts on Monday (Jan. 4) versus No. 12/14 Nebraska. The Huskers are the second Big 12 school to visit Burlington this season (Oklahoma State, Dec. 13) and the first ranked opponent to play at Patrick Gym since No. 4 Vanderbilt played UVM on Dec. 22, 2001.