No. 21 Hartford Cruises To Victory Over New Hampshire In Quarterfinals
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- America East Player of the Year Diana Delva
had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead top-seeded Hartford (No.
21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) to its school-record 19th straight
victory, 68-35 over New Hampshire in the quarterfinals of the
conference tournament Friday night.
Erica Beverly, who joined
Delva on the All-Conference team and was the defensive Player of the
Year, added 16 points to help the Hawks reach Sunday's semifinals
against Stony Brook or Binghamton.
"It
was a complete team effort. We came out ready from the beginning," said Delva after the win. "We wanted to
defend. We emphasized our rebounding, so we got on the glass offensively and on
the defensive end. Obviously I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.
After the first two rounds,
the championship game is to be played on the home floor of the higher
seed, which would leave the Hawks at home -- where they are 15-0 -- if
they reach the title game.
Hartford (26-3) led by 15 at the half and beat New Hampshire for the third time this season.Candace
Williams had 13 points for the Wildcats (9-22), who shot just 27.3
percent from the field, including 1-for-14 from three-point range.
Stony Brook Eliminates Binghamton, Advances
to America East Semis
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Fourth-seeded Stony
Brook nearly led from beginning to end, pulling out a 71-60 victory over
fifth-seeded Binghamton Friday night at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich
Family Pavilion in the quarterfinals of the 2010 America East Championship presented
by Newman's Own.
The Seawolves (10-19, 7-9 America East
Conference) were led by junior guard Misha Horsey's 20 points, 16 of which were
scored in the second half to help Stony Brook seal the victory over the
Bearcats (11-19, 7-9 AE).
"I told [Horsey] during one of the
timeouts, 'You need to start taking shots,'" said Stony Brook head coach
Michele Cherry, who won her first-ever America East Championship game. "She looked to be more aggressive."
"I don't think she thought she needed to
put the team on her back, but that's essentially what she did."
Stony Brook took control of the game from
the beginning. Junior forward Kirsten
Jeter scored eight of her 15 points to start the game for the Seawolves, giving
them the early 8-2 lead.
After Binghamton crept back, Stony Brook
broke the game open. With about 16
minutes to go in the first half, the Seawolves went on an 18-4 run, giving them
a 15-point lead.
The early deficit put the Bearcats at a
serious disadvantage early that they weren't able to recover from.
"Come tournament time, you've got to be
ready to go," Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl said. "By the time we had finally settled in, they
had gotten a big enough lead and jump on us that it was really hard to
recover."
Binghamton worked its way back into the
game, coming as close as four on a three by junior guard Jackie Ward with 10:08
left to go.
However, Horsey would then take control and
give Stony Brook a comfortable lead that they would not relinquish.
Sophomore guard Andrea Holmes added a
game-high 22 points for the Bearcats in the losing effort.
The Seawolves advance to the America East
Championship semifinals on Sunday, where they will face top-seeded host
Hartford.