WEST HARTFORD, Conn.-- The 2010 America East Women's Basketball Championship trophy--the Rowlands Trophy--will be handed out Saturday night at Chase Family Arena when top-seeded University Hartford and second-seeded University of Vermont face off in the title bout. The Hawks, winners of 20 straight coming into the contest, earned the right to host the Catamounts by winning the regular season championship.
The game will be a part of the America East Television Package with Eric Frede calling the game and Leah Secondo providing the color analysis. Tip-off from West Hartford is at 8 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet throughout New England, as well as on ESPN Full Court, ESPN360.com and for free on www.AmericaEast.tv.
This will be just the first time since 2000 that the top two seeds have met for the league's championship, and it is the first time ever that Hartford and Vermont have played one another in the championship game. The Hawks and the Catamounts last met in the tournament during last year's semifinals at The Chase Family Pavilion, which Vermont won, 66-56.
The Hawks defeated ninth-seeded New Hampshire, 68-35, in the quarterfinals and then fourth-seeded Stony Brook, 65-43, in a semifinal contest Sunday to advance to the title tilt. Hartford's leading scorer and rebounder during the regular season, America East Player of the Year Diana Delva, led the team during their first two games in the tournament with averages of 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Eleven of her 15 rebounds last weekend came on the offensive glass. Senior Erica Beverly, the league's Defensive Player of the Year, also came up big in the first two games with 12 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, however, an injury sustained against Stony Brook will leave her unavailable for the rest of the season. Junior Mary Silvia came off the bench to play 20 minutes in the semifinal contest against Stony Brook, knocking down 4-of-5 three-point attempts for a team-high 17 points. Earlier this week, Head coach Jennifer Rizzotti was named a top-ten finalist for the inaugural Kay Yow National Coach of the Year Award. The award winner will be announced at the 2010 Women's Final Four in San Antonio.
The Catamounts faced seventh-seeded Albany and third-seeded Boston U. in the quarters and semis, defeating the Great Danes and Terriers by scores of 61-36 and 69-52, respectively. In the win over Albany on Friday, Vermont set several tournament records for its defense. The Catamounts held the Great Danes to the lowest number of field goals ever in a tournament game with just 10, including four in the second half, and to the lowest field-goal percentage ever recorded in the championship, .169 (10-of-59). On the glass, Vermont tied a tournament record set in 1985 with 56 rebounds against Albany. The reigning Most Outstanding Player, senior guard Courtnay Pilypaitis has averaged 15 rebounds per game, as well as 12.5 points per game, recording her 11th double-double of the season against the Terriers. Classmates May Kotsopoulos and Alissa Sheftic averaged 14.0 points per game to pace the team offensively.
The conference is guaranteed multple teams in the postseason for the sixth consecutive year. The winner of Saturday's title game will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. If the team which does not win Saturday night does not receive an at-large bid, it will receive the conference's automatic berth to the postseason WNIT as the highest-finishing team in the regular season conference standings to not participate in the NCAA tournament. If both Hartford and Vermont dance, then Boston U., which finished the regular season in third place, will earn the WNIT bid, its second in a row.