Stony Brook's Jeter Takes Home Top Weekly Honor After Impressive Week

1/24/2011 9:14:00 PM

America East Communications

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Stony Brook University senior forward Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y/Elmont), a unanimous preseason all-America East selection, has garnered her first America East Player of the Week of the season after a strong three-game span in which she filled up the stat sheet. Picking up the Rookie of the Week award again is freshman guard Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del./Concord) from University of Maine, her fourth such honor of the season.

In a three-game week, Jeter averaged a league-high 22.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.7 assists per game while shooting .587 (27-of-46) from the field. Her best effort of the week came in the finale on Sunday at Maine where she recorded her third double-double of the season with a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and four steals.

Earlier in the week against Albany, Jeter scored 23 points with 9-of-16 field-goal shooting and 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. In a midweek game against first-place Boston U., Jeter finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals. She has now scored 20 or more points in three of her last four games.

Jeter continues to lead all active America East players in career points, rebounds and steals, while averaging 13.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 2.9 spg during her senior campaign.

Roberts garners her fourth rookie award of the season with a two-game week in which she averaged 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She extended her double-digit scoring streak to eleven games, and notched her 200th career point on Sunday against Stony Brook.

At Vermont on Thursday, Roberts finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals with 8-for-14 shooting from the field. Back at home on Sunday against the Seawolves, the rookie was one board shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. Roberts went 10-for-13 from the line against Stony Brook.

Roberts is 12th in the league averaging 10.7 ppg this season and is the only freshman in the league's top 20. She also ranks 10th in America East with .689 free-throw shooting on the season.

Upcoming Action

Wednesday, January 26
*UMBC at Albany    12 p.m.
*Stony Brook at Hartford (CTSN)    7 p.m.
*Binghamton at Boston U. (CSN/TWCS - AETV)    7 p.m.
*New Hampshire at Maine     7 p.m.

Saturday, January 29
*New Hampshire at Boston U. (NESN)    1 p.m.
*Stony Brook at UMBC     2 p.m.
*Maine at Binghamton    3 p.m.

Sunday, January 30
*Vermont at Albany    3 p.m.

* America East Conference Game

Preseason Picks Looking Good

Boston U., who was the preseason favorite of the coaches, has so far proved the head coaches right. The Terriers are the only undefeated team remaining with a 7-0 record. Boston U. is plowing through league foes by a +19.3 scoring margin and are averaging a league-best 67.7 ppg while limiting opponents to just 48.4 ppg. The last two America East regular season champions, Hartford in 2010 and Boston U. in 2009, have gone 16-0 in league play.

Tune In

There will be three televised games this week, including one as part of the America East-Television slate. Wednesday's 7p matchup at Agganis Arena between Boston U. and Binghamton, the top two teams in the standings, will be live on Comcast SportNet, Time Warner Cable Sports and on ESPN3.com. Stony Brook's trip to Hartford, also on Wednesday, will be shown live on Connecticut Sports Network (CTSN) at 7p, while New England Sports Network (NESN) will have live coverage on Saturday at 1p when New Hampshire visits Boston U. at Case Gym.

Block Party

With 28 blocked shots this season, University of New Hampshire's Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) now has 145 for her career which moves her up on the America East all-time blocks list. McDonald is tied with Boston U.'s Kasey Devine (2004-08) for ninth all time. She needs seven more rejections to pass former Great Dane Gia Sanders (2004-08) who totaled 151 career blocks for eighth place. McDonald ranks third in America East this season with 1.5 blocks per game.

Greenberg's Got 200

Boston U. Head Coach Kelly Greenberg earned her 200th career victory in the Terriers' 72-59 win over Albany on Saturday, January 15. It was her 116th win while at Boston U. Greenberg's other 84 wins came in the five seasons while she was head coach at Penn from 1999-2004. The only other active coach in America East with as many wins is Hartford Head Coach Jennifer Rizzotti with 225 under her belt, while UMBC Head Coach Phil Stern is just two away from the 200-win milestone with 198.

Long Time Coming

The conference has seen some surprises this season as well as some long losing streaks against other league opponents snapped. Below is a list of losing streaks one team has had against another league foe and snapped this year. The longest wait for any team who snapped a skid this year was Albany who until this year hadn't defeated Hartford since 2005, a period that spanned 13 games. The Great Danes had also been held winless against the Hawks at Chase Arena even longer, since March 2004 in the quarterfinals of the America East Championship.

Team    Opponent    # of Games
Albany    Hartford    13
Binghamton    Hartford    12
New Hampshire    Vermont    11
UMBC    Vermont    6
UMBC    Hartford    6
Maine    UMBC    5
Binghamton    Vermont    5

New Members Of 1,000-Point Club

Binghamton junior guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) and UMBC junior guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) have both reached the 1,000 career point milesone, with Holmes achieving the mark most recently as part of a 26-point performance in the Bearcats' overtime win over Vermont on January 23. Kurowski accomplished the feat with a 19-point performance in the Retrievers' win at Stony Brook on January 3. The two guards join Stony Brook's Kirsten Jeter as the only three active members of the elite group of 101 America East 1,000-point scorers.

Who's Next?

Two more juniors are next in line to follow Kurowski and Holmes into the 1,000 point club. New Hampshire forward Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) and Boston U. guard Alex Young (Hickory, N.C./ St. Stephen's) are neck and neck with 829 and 828 points, respectively.

Scheduling Strong

According to Collegiate Basketball News' RPIratings.com, America East squads have played the 12th-toughest non-conference schedule out of the 33 conferences. University of Vermont has had the most grueling schedule, ranked the 40th toughest in the country with seven meetings with top-100 teams. Hartford's non-league schedule is ranked 45th in strength.

Reporting In

Collegiate Basketball News ranked America East 28th out of 33 conferences in the weekly RPI Report, holding steady from the previous week. Albany remains the highest-ranked team at 189 while Binghamton and Boston U. are also in the top 200 at 190 and 193, respectively. UMBC at 201 and Hartford, despite falling 26 spots, at 222 round out the top five America East teams.

ALBANY GREAT DANES (11-8, 4-2 AE)

Albany has matched last year's win total with ten regular-season games left on the schedule... The Great Danes split two road matches last week, defeating Stony Brook, 67-55, before falling to Binghamton, 50-44... Junior point guard Felicia Johnson (Newport News, Va./Woodside) led Albany in scoring, averaging 14.5 points in the two games. She scored a team-high 16 points against Stony Brook before netting a team-best 13 points versus Binghamton... Sophomore guard Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, along with 3.5 steals per game. She recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a 14-point, 10-rebound performance against the Seawolves, while also recording five steals and a block... Henry then scored 11 points, pulled down seven boards and tallied two steals and an assist versus the Bearcats... Sophomore forward Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) continues to be the best rebounder in the conference, averaging 10.5 boards in two games. She recorded her league-leading seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds at Stony Brook, and grabbed 10 boards at Binghamton... The Great Danes continue league play this week with a rare mid-week noon matinee against UMBC at home on Wednesday for the annual Education Day, and host Vermont on Sunday at 3 p.m.

BINGHAMTON BEARCATS (13-7, 6-1 AE)

Binghamton has won four straight games for the first time since the 2005-06 season. In addition, it is off to its best conference start since the 2003-04 season... Junior point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) averaged 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. In the process, she become the 13th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career and just the fourth Binghamton player to attain the milestone in her junior year. Holmes had 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the Bearcats' win at Hartford last Monday. She ended the week with a 26-point, 11-rebound performance at Vermont. Holmes is now averaging 14.8 points per game, which ranks second in the America East Conference. She is on track to record the highest scoring average by a Bighamton player since current Bearcats assistant coach Leah Truncale averaged 18.4 points per contest during the 2001-02 campaign... Sophomore forward Kara Elofson (Minneapolis, Minn/Hopkins) poured in a career-high 20 points in the game at Hartford and followed up with 12 points and nine rebounds against Albany on Thursday. In the game against the Great Danes, she had four points and a pair of rebounds in the final two minutes as the Bearcats pulled out a 50-44 win... Senior guard Jackie Ward (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford-Mendon) has averaged 12.5 points in her past two games.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS (10-9, 7-0 AE)

The Boston University women's basketball team remained undefeated in America East action with a three-win week over UMBC, 65-39, Stony Brook, 82-65, and Hartford, 58-50. Sophomore Mo Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) poured in 19 points against the Hawks as they came back from a 10-point deficit aided by a 16-5 second-half run... Moran finished the week averaging 13.7 ppg and a league-high 4.7 apg... Sophomore guard Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) led the Terriers last week with 18.7 ppg, while senior forward Kerry Cashman (Newfields, N.H./Exeter) tallied a league-best 12.0 rpg in the three games... Boston U. will return to action this week with two more TV games beginning with Binghamton on Wednesday night (Jan. 26) from Agganis Arena at 7 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet, and returning to Case Gym on Saturday with UNH (Jan. 29) on NESN at 1 p.m.

HARTFORD HAWKS (6-14, 3-4 AE)

The Hawks came up on the losing end of all three games over the past seven days... Hartford opened the week with a 12-point home loss to Binghamton University (59-67), the second-straight home conference loss in a row, something the Hawks haven't allowed to happen since the 2003-04 season... The Hawks then went on the road for their next two, dropping the second game of the week in double overtime at UMBC (60-67)... The final loss of the week came at Boston U., 50-58... The loss to Binghamton snapped a pretty impressive run for the Hawks, who had won 12-straight against the Bearcats, who hadn't won against Hartford at the Chase Family Arena since January of 2003... In the loss to Binghamton, the Hawks were led by sophomore Alex Hall (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Academy) who finished with a career-high 21 points, the most points by any Hawk this season... Against UMBC, sophomore Daphne Elliott (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) led the team with 17 points, while she and Ilicia Mathis (Hamden, Conn./Hill Career Regional) each added 13 points in the loss to Boston University... In all three games, the Hawks opened up early first-half leads that they would end up relinquishing in the second half... Against Binghamton, the Hawks led by as much as 13 in the first half, while leading by as much as 12 against UMBC (as late as 14 minutes remaining in the second half). Finally, against Boston University, the Hawks held a 10-point advantage in the first half... Hartford will play just one game in the week ahead, the final game in the first run through the 16-game conference schedule. Hartford welcomes the Stony Brook Seawolves to West Hartford on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game that will be televised live on CTSN, the Connecticut Sports Network.

MAINE BLACK BEARS (3-16, 1-6 AE)

Maine dropped a pair of America East contests over the past week... Maine was defeated at Vermont on Thursday evening, 57-48, and dropped a close 73-70 matchup at home against Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon... Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del./Concord) recorded 17 points to lead the Black Bears and notched 14 points against Stony Brook. Roberts has now scored in double-figures in eleven straight games dating back to a Dec. 12 game at Penn State. She is the last player since Bracey Barker in 2007 to record double-figures in 10 straight or more... Roberts and Amber Smith (Ipswich, Mass.) both notched their 200th career points against Stony Brook while Katelyn Vanderhoff (Lititz, Pa.) picked up her 300th point in a 17-point, seven-rebound, four-assist, five-steal performance against Stony Brook... As a unit, the Black Bears continue to lead America East in blocks per game, swatting away 3.8 shots per game and compiling a total of 73 blocks on the year... Maine returns to action when it hosts UNH on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before traveling to battle Binghamton on Saturday at 3 p.m.

UMBC RETRIEVERS (11-9, 5-2 AE)

UMBC has won 10 of its last 14 games after going 2-1 last week… The Retrievers are 5-2 in America East play for the first time ever in eight seasons in the league… The Retrievers fell to Boston University, 65-39, on Monday in Boston… Junior guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) led UMBC with 15 points… The Retrievers used a 21-3 run to overcome a 12-point second-half deficit and defeat Hartford, 67-60, in double overtime on Thursday at the RAC… UMBC outscored the Hawks, 8-1, in the second extra period… Junior center Topé Obajolu (Randallstown, Md./Archbishop Carroll) dominated the inside, scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and four blocks… Kurowski added 18 points and nine rebounds… It was UMBC’s first overtime win since Jan. 16, 1993 against Charleston Southern… It was UMBC’s first overtime game since the 2006 America East quarterfinals, a span of 142 contests… The Retrievers ended the week with a 69-51 home win over New Hampshire on Sunday… Obajolu scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting. She became the fifth Retriever ever to record 100 blocks in her career… It was the seventh straight home win for UMBC, who is 8-1 at the RAC this season… The Retrievers committed just five turnovers in the game, with none in the second half, and recorded 13 steals… UMBC’s trio of juniors – Kurowski, Obajolu and forward Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) – have accounted for 68.2 percent of the team’s scoring this season… Kurowski ranks 10th all-time with 1,111 career points… She is the America East’s leading scorer with 15.8 ppg… The Retrievers visit America East rival Albany on Wednesday, then host league foe Stony Brook on Saturday.

NEW HAMPSHIRE (5-14, 2-5 AE)

University of New Hampshire finished off its most recent week of action 1-1... The Wildcats earned a 63-59 overtime win over Vermont (Jan. 17) at Lundholm Gymnasium and fell to UMBC (Jan. 23), 69-51, at the RAC Arena... UNH's win over UVM was the program's second in extended play this season. On the year UNH stands 2-1 in overtime. Since 2002-03, the Wildcats are a stellar 9-3 in extended play, winning three of their last five contests... Junior Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) led four Wildcats in double-figures, registering 17 points and seven rebounds. Beliveau earned America East Player of the Game honors for New Hampshire in the contest, finishing the game shooting 6-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-8 from deep, and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She also added two assists and one steal... Rounding out UNH's double-digit scorers were Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North; 12), Cari Reed (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego; 11), and Lauren Wells (West Chester, Pa./Archbishop Carroll; 11)... Reed finished with career highs in rebounds (12) and blocks (2), while also adding two assists... It is just the second time this season four 'Cats have scored in double-figures in a game... Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) registered a team-best 14 points, including 12 in the second half against UMBC. McDonald earned America East Player of the Game honors for New Hampshire, scoring her 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe. She rounded out the afternoon with four boards and two blocks... Reed was UNH's only other double-digit scorer, notching 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc... The Wildcats return to action Wednesday, Jan. 26 (7 p.m.) when they face off against Maine at Alfond Arena.

STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (4-15, 1-6 AE)

The Seawolves defeated host Maine, 73-70, on Sunday after falling to Albany and Boston U. at home earlier in the week... Senior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) scored 18 of her career-high 28 points in the first half against Maine. She also pulled down 10 rebounds as she recorded her third double-double of the season and scored over 20 points for the third time in the last four games ... With the Seawolves leading 71-70 in the final seconds at Maine, junior Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.J.) forced a key turnover that clinched the game for the Seawolves... SBU was tied with Albany at the half but the Great Danes used a 22-3 second-half run to pull away... Jeter scored a game-high 23 points... The Seawolves shot over 40 percent against Albany. It was the first time in 12 games that Stony Brook shot over 40 percent... The Seawolves shot 43.4 percent against Boston U., their highest shooting percentage since shooting 43.9 percent in the win over Nicholls State on Nov. 24... The Seawolves had 14 steals against Maine and have over 10 steals in four of their last five games.

VERMONT CATAMOUNTS (2-18, 2-5 AE)

Vermont had a 1-2 week... UVM's two losses were both in overtime and by a combined total of eight points... The Catamounts started the week with a 63-59 loss in overtime at New Hampshire, despite owning a nine-point lead with four minutes to go in regulation... UVM bounced back with a 57-48 win over Maine at Patrick Gymnasium... The Catamounts dropped a hard-fought game to Binghamton, 55-51, in overtime... UVM trailed by 13 with 13 minutes to go, but put together a 19-6 run to knot the game up and force the extra session... The Catamounts have outrebounded the last six opponents, including Binghamton, who entered the game as the team leader in America East... Lauren Buschmann (St. Catharines, Ontario/Governor Simcoe) averaged 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks on the week. She also shot 40 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line. She scored 10 of her team-high 16 points during UVM's comeback effort in the second half versus Binghamton. She also went 8-for-8 from the line against Maine... Tonya Young (Canaan, N.H./Mascoma Valley Regional) chipped in 13.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and shot 54.2 percent from the field on the week... Vermont has a bye week and returns to action on Sunday (Jan. 30) at Albany at 3 p.m.

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