Alford And Hogan Start Off New Year With Weekly Awards

1/3/2011 9:00:00 PM

America East Communications

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Boston University sophomore guard Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) and University of New Hampshire freshman guard Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H./Nashua) started off the new year on the right foot as each earned the first America East weekly awards of the 2011 calendar year. Alford, who paced the Terrier offense last week and led Boston U. to a win in the conference opener, earned player of the week distinction, while Hogan received the league's rookie of the week award after being productive from the point in a three-game week for the Wildcats.

Alford, the reigning America East Rookie of the Year, captured her first career player of the week award with weekly averages of 20.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and .462 field-goal shooting. She also added 4-for-10 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Alford netted a season-high 22 points in the conference season opener against University of Maine to breeze past the 600-point career milestone. She shot 10-for-16 against the Black Bears and hit 2-of-3 attempts from long distance. The sophomore guard added three rebounds, one assist and one steal in the Terrier win. Earlier in the week on the road against Providence, Alford scored a team-high 19 points, while attempting 23 field goals, a season high in the conference. She also tallied five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block against the Friars.

Alford lifted her season averages to 13.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. She also has 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game this season while shooting .456 from the field.

Hogan earned the rookie of the week honor after a busy week which included three games and a thrilling triple-overtime victory. The redshirt-freshman point guard finished the week with 9.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and an impressive .556 three-point shooting clip. She also turned the ball over just eight times while dishing out 17 helpers for a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

In Saturday's triple overtime game against Rhode Island, Hogan tallied 10 points, five rebounds and six assists. In 52 minutes of action, she turned the ball over just once. Earlier in the week at St. Joseph's, Hogan tallied a career-best eight assists to go along with nine points and four rebounds in the first round of the 20th Annual Hawk Classic. In the second game against Quinnipiac, she finished with nine points, two rebounds and three assists.

Hogan has 8.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and nine steals on the season. She leads the conference in helpers and ranks fourth with a 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Upcoming Action

Monday, January 3
*UMBC at Stony Brook 7 p.m. l Live Stats l Live Video l WUSB Radio l

Both teams play in their conference openers. The Seawolves swept last year's home-and-home series with 74-56 and 59-48 victories.
The Retrievers have won five of their last seven games, with the only losses coming against Maryland and Virginia, while the Seawolves have been trending in the opposite direction, losing the last six straight.
UMBC junior guard Michelle Kurowski, who is second in the league averaging 14.2 ppg, is just 19 points shy of the 1,000 career point milestone.
The only active 1,000-point scorer in the league will be on the other side of the court in Stony Brook senior forward Kirsten Jeter. Jeter has started all 12 games for the Seawolves and is averaging 11.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg and 2.6 spg.

Cornell at Binghamton 7 p.m. l Live Stats l Live Video l WNBF Radio l

The Bearcats routed Cornell last January, 74-42, and are hoping to clinch their first winning season against non-conference opponents since 2005-06 with a victory.
Tonight's game at the Events Center is the first of a season-high three-game homestand for Binghamton. The Bearcats are 3-0 at home this season.
Binghamton typically goes the way preseason all-conference guard Andrea Holmes goes. In six wins this season, Holmes is averaging 17.0 ppg and 24 turnovers. In six losses, the junior averages just 9.3 ppg and has committed 41 turnovers.

* America East Conference Game

Setting The Stage For Conference Play

America East conference play just got underway. The conference schedule is a double round-robin with eight home-and-home series. The last two regular season champions, Boston University in 2009 and Hartford in 2010, finished the league slate with 16-0 marks, but both bowed out of the conference tournament. The Terriers, the preseason favorites of the coaches, began the America East schedule at home on Sunday, January 2 with a 78-40 win over Maine. University of Hartford got revenge over University of Vermont in the rematch of the 2010 Championship Game in Burlington on Sunday. Two more teams, UMBC and Stony Brook, square off Monday night in their conference openers at Pritchard Gym. Binghamton will be the last team to begin America East play when it opens its conference slate by hosting Stony Brook on Thursday, January 6.

Tuning In

There are two televised America East Conference games this week. Connecticut Sports Network (CTSN) will have live coverage when Hartford hosts Albany on Saturday at 3p at Chase Family Arena. On Sunday, January 9, Boston U.'s visit to Vermont will be live on local station WCAXtra at 1p.

Triple The Fun

After a pair of one-point losses earlier in the week, University of New Hampshire finally pulled out a close win at home on January 1 over Rhode Island. However, it was even closer than the Wildcats could have imagined. The Wildcats and Rams went into triple overtime to decide the game, where UNH outscored the visitors 18-4 in the final five minutes to win the game, 88-74. Four UNH players played over 50 minutes, with junior Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) playing 53 out of a possible 55 minutes. It was the longest game an America East squad has played since Vermont also went into triple overtime on November 23, 2008 against Dartmouth.

Young Gun

Boston U. junior guard Alex Young (Hickory, N.C./St. Stephen's) is leading the conference in scoring with 14.5 ppg. This year's perfomance is following last year's 14.5 ppg which earned her All-Conference Third-Team recognition, and 4.1 ppg her freshman year. Young has hit a conference-best 34 three-pointers (2.6 per game) and ranks 10th with .351 three-point shooting. Though there is nearly half a season remaining, the last Terrier to top the conference's single-season scoring chart was Katie Terhune in 2001-02 (18.6 ppg).

Juniors Cruising

The junior class across the league this year has put its stamp on the conference with its dominance in the statistical rankings. The top three, seven of the top 10, and 10 of the top-20 scorers are juniors. No other class can even boast half as many in the top 10. Four of the top five conference leaders in minutes played are juniors, and six of the top 15 spots in the steals rankings belong to the third-year class. Other notable categories that the junior class has succeeded in are free-throw percentage (top three, 7-of-top-15), three-pointers (4-of-5, 5-of-10), and blocks (5-of-10, 7-of-15).

The Countdown

UMBC's Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) is closing in on 1,000 career points. The junior pulled to within 19 points last week and has 981 points going into Monday's game against Stony Brook. Kurowski would become the second active America East player to top 1,000 career points, joining senior Kirsten Jeter from Stony Brook.

Scheduling Strong

According to Collegiate Basketball News' RPIratings.com, America East squads have played the 11th-toughest non-conference schedule out of the 33 conferences. University of Vermont has had the most grueling schedule, ranked the 49th toughest in the country, and the Catamounts will play one more non-league game this week when they travel to Oklahoma State on Tuesday, January 4. University of Hartford's schedule is ranked 64th in strength, while Boston University's non-league slate comes in at 84. These three teams have played a combined 14 top-100 teams this season.

Reporting In

Collegiate Basketball News ranked America East 27th out of 33 conferences in the weekly RPI Report, tumbling three spots from the previous week. Albany, which is the highest-ranked of the America East teams, appears at 157, 112 steps improved from last year's final spot (269). Despite dropping two games, Binghamton had the biggest improvement of 25 steps up to 215. UMBC also moved up, improving 17 spots to 196 after defeating Loyola (MD).

Bearcats' Starting Five

The Binghamton University starting five, which has been intact for all but just one game, has played 86 percent of the team's minutes this year. It's no surprise then that the Bearcats' starters have accounted for 93.5 percent of the team's scoring, 88.8 percent of its assists, and 75.0 percent of its rebounds. Four of the five starters are averaging double-digit points and all five are in the America East top-20. Guards Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) and freshman Jasbriell Swain (Memphis, Tenn./Horn Lake) have logged the most minutes with 38.7 and 36.4 minutes per game, respectively.

Grand Great Danes

University at Albany began its season with one of its best starts in program history. The Great Danes won their first five games of the season for the first time since 1986-87, and began 6-1 for the first time in its Division I history. The 1986-87 team, which competed at the Division III level, went 5-0 to open the season and finished with a 19-5 overall record.

Poll Position... Mid-Major Edition

CollegeInsider.com debuted its first-ever Women's Mid-Major Top-25 poll this year. Three teams (Hartford, Vermont, Boston U.) were either ranked or receiving votes in the preseason poll. Albany has also been ranked this season as high as 23rd and is currently receiving five votes.

Half-Century Mark

A bevy of players have reached the 500 career- point mark already this season, including a pair of Boston University sophomores, Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) and Mo Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay). Juniors Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) of UMBC and Viive Rebane (Talinn, Estonia/Audentes School) from Binghamton have both eclipsed the half-century mark as well. Also recently to make the mark are seniors Tanna Ross (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) of Maine and Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) of New Hampshire. Black Bear junior Samantha Wheeler (Derry, N.H./Timberlane Regional) is just three points away from 500.

Jeter's A Keeper

Stony Brook senior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont), a unanimous preseason all-conference pick, is poised to finish her career with spectacular numbers. She is currently the league's active leader in points (1,216), rebounds (623) and steals (194), and has led the Seawolves to improvement in every season since her freshman year in 2007-08.

Triple Up

Boston U. sophomore guard Moran tallied a triple-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists on November 17 at home against Yale, one of only 10 players in the country this year, and the first Terrier to accomplish the feat since 2004. It is also the third straight season America East has had a player notch a triple-double, as former America East Player of the Year Courtnay Pilypaitis ('10) from University of Vermont picked up a triple-double in each of the previous two seasons.

Historic Year

America East is coming off arguably its most successful season in the history of the league. Two teams represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000, including Hartford's first-ever at-large bid. Vermont defeated Wisconsin in the first round, America East's third win in the tourney since 2006. Boston U. made it three teams in the postseason when it earned a spot in the postseason WNIT and hosted a game at Case Gym. For the year, the league finished 15th in the RPI, the league's highest finish since 2005-06. America East was the fifth-highest ranked non-FBS conference in the final 2009-10 RPI ratings.

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 last year (45 of 113) were against teams which qualified for the NCAA or WNIT postseason tournaments the previous 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         St, Dayton, Bowling Green, Canisius
vs. All Postseason Teams    12-33 (.267)

So far during the 2010-11 season, 37 of 111 non-conference opponents competed in the 2010 postseason, including 11 NCAA participants, 24 WNIT competitors and two WBI Tournament teams.

ALBANY GREAT DANES (7-6, 0-0 AE)

Albany dropped its third straight game with a 48-43 loss to Fordham in the final non-conference game of the year... The Great Danes were held to 29.3-percent shooting from the floor, despite making seven three-pointers and outrebounding the Rams, 39-37... Albany was led by Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) with 11 points and seven rebounds, while point guard Felicia Johnson (Newport News, Va./Woodside) chipped in with 10 points and five boards... Forward Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) was held just short of a double-double, grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds, including 10 offensive, and scoring eight points... She also recorded four of the Great Danes' eight steals... Albany will kick off America East Conference play on Tuesday, hosting New Hampshire at 7 p.m., and will visit Hartford on Saturday at 3 p.m.

BINGHAMTON BEARCATS (6-6, 0-0 AE)

Binghamton faces Cornell on Monday night in its final non-conference game of the season. With a win over the Big Red, the Bearcats would clinch their first winning season against non-conference opponents since the 2005-06 season... Junior forward Viive Rebane (Talinn, Estonia/Audentes School) was named to the Monmouth Hawk Holiday Classic All-Tournament team, which was held Dec. 28-29. She averaged 10.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two games. Against the host Hawks on Dec. 29, she had a team-best 15 points and 10 rebounds... The Bearcats open conference play on Thursday at home against Stony Brook. It will mark a rematch of the 2010 America East quarterfinals, which the Seawolves won, 71-60... The game against Cornell marks the first of a season-high three-game home stand... Freshman forward Jasbriell Swain (Memphis, Tenn./Horn Lake) averaged 7.5 rebounds last week while junior point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) posted 5.0 assists per contest... The combined record of the Bearcats' two opponents last week is 18-7.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS (4-9, 1-0 AE)

The Boston University women's basketball team got the New Year and its conference slate started off on the right foot as it defeated Maine, 78-40, wire-to-wire... It was the largest victory by a Terrier side since it defeated Stony Brook, 89-40, back on Jan. 19, 2008, and it’s the first time in nearly two years it has beaten a team by 30 or more points... Sophomore Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) was the team's offensive spark in the victory as she poured in 22 points to breeze past the 600-point career milestone... Conversely, the Terriers’ defense prevented Maine from gaining any kind of momentum as it held it to a .267 shooting percentage with just 12 field goals and forced 26 turnovers... Earlier in the week it lost its non-conference finale to Providence, 65-55... This week the Terriers will have two road games against New Hampshire (Jan. 6) and Vermont (Jan. 9).

HARTFORD HAWKS (4-10, 1-0 AE)

The Hawks put up a perfect 2-0 record in two games last week, the first was a one-point victory as the Hawks squeezed out of Baltimore with a win over Coppin State... They then went on to open conference play with a comfortable 62-49 victory over the Vermont Catamounts in Burlington... Against the Eagles, senior guard Mary Silvia (Reading, Mass./Reading) led the team with a season-high 17 points, while adding five rebounds and three assists to her credit. The senior had put up back-to-back double digit games before falling ill and missing the Vermont game... Against the Catamounts, a trio of guards led the scoring with Alex Hall (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Academy) leading all with 17 points, one shy of her season high. She finished that game shooting 64 percent on 7-of-11 overall... Joining her in leading the team were Daphne Elliott (Farfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) and Ilicia Mathis (Hamden, Conn./Hill Regional), each adding 14... The Hawks will continue conference play with two games in the coming week, opening up the conference schedule with three games in seven days... The Hawks will welcome Maine (Wednesday, January 5, 7 p.m.) and Albany (Saturday, January 8, 3 p.m.) to the Chase Family Arena this week.

MAINE BLACK BEARS (2-11, 0-1 AE)

The Maine women's basketball team split last week's action. The Black Bears defeated UMass, 66-62, in their only home game in December but fell in the America East opener at Boston U., 78-40... Katelyn Vanderhoff (Litiz, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) extended her double-figured scoring streak to three games after a career night against the Minutewomen but tallied only nine points against the Terriers. Vanderhoff set career highs in points and three-point field goals in the win... Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, De./Concord) scored 10 or more points for the fifth-straight time. The stretch is the longest ever by a freshman under head coach Cindy Blodgett... Maine posted 46 rebounds for the second game in a row and its largest margin of the season. The Black Bears out-rebounded UMass, 46-31, and were led by Corinne Wellington's (Rochester, N.Y./Wilson Magnet) nine boards... Wellington was also one of three other Maine players to join Vanderhoff in scoring in double figures... Roberts added 11 points, including a pair of free throws in the final 11 seconds of the contest, while Amber Smith (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) scored 13 points and pulled down six boards... Maine travels to Hartford Wednesday and hosts UMBC on Sunday.

UMBC RETRIEVERS (6-7, 0-0 AE)

UMBC won for the fifth time in seven games on Tuesday, defeating cross-town rival Loyola at home, 60-57, in its final non-conference contest of the season… Four Retrievers scored in double figures for the first time since Jan. 18, 2010 against Binghamton… Junior guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half and also pulled down seven rebounds… Junior forward Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) tallied all 16 of her points in the first period and also added seven boards… Junior center Topé Obajolu (Randallstown, Md./Archbishop Carroll) finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and a season-high nine rebounds… Sophomore guard Kristin Coles (Charles Town, W.Va./Notre Dame Academy/American) reached double digits for the third straight game with 10 points… UMBC was 20-for-26 from the foul line, making its most free throws since March 13, 2009, against Binghamton in the America East quarterfinals… Kurowski is just 19 points away from becoming the 17th member of UMBC’s 1,000-point club, while senior forward Meghan Colabella (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) is 19 rebounds shy of becoming the 14th Retriever ever to reach 500 in her career… UMBC’s trio of juniors – Kurowski, Brown and Obajolu – has accounted for 67.5 percent of the team’s scoring this season… Kurowski leads UMBC with 14.2 points per game… The Retrievers open America East Conference play on Monday at Stony Brook, then visit league rival Maine on Sunday.

NEW HAMPSHIRE (3-9, 0-0 AE)

The University of New Hampshire women's basketball team rounded out its last week of non-conference action with a 1-2 record... The Wildcats took fourth place at the 20th Annual Hawk Classic (Dec. 28-29), hosted by St. Joseph's University, after falling short in a pair of one-point losses to St. Joe's and Quinnipiac... The Wildcats finished out the week on a strong note, earning an 88-74 win over Rhode Island (1/1), in the first triple-overtime game in program history. The win comes as the team's first in extended play since defeating Harvard, 78-65, at Lundholm Gymnasium on Nov. 24, 2009... The 'Cats outscored the Rams 18-4 in the third and final overtime period to secure the win... UNH knocked down 13-of-28 shots (.464) from beyond the arc, one shy of the program record. It was the second time this season New Hampshire has netted double-digit three-pointers in a game... Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) led New Hampshire, notching her third double double of the season, scoring a career-high 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds... Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury), who was named the America East Player of the Game, registered her second straight double double, establishing a career high with 22 points, while pulling down 12 boards... Cari Reed (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) hit five of 10 three-point field goals to tally a career-best 21 points in the win... It is the first time at least two Wildcats have tallied 20-plus points in a game since Candace Williams (26) and Amy Simpson (21) did so against Stony Brook University (Jan. 24) during the 2008-09 campaign... The Wildcats open their America East conference schedule on the road Tuesday, Jan. 4, with a 7 p.m. matchup versus the University at Albany.

STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (3-9, 0-0 AE)

Stony Brook lost at St. Francis (N.Y.), 57-54, in its final non-conference game on Friday... Senior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) scored a game-high 21 points for the Seawolves and also pulled down eight rebounds... Stony Brook will now open conference play against UMBC at Pritchard Gymnasium on Monday... It will be the Seawolves first home game in almost a month... SBU is averaging 69.6 points per game on 38 percent shooting in its five home games... The Seawolves are averaging 48.2 points per game on 29.4 shooting in their five away games... Stony Brook forced St. Francis (N.Y.) into 24 turnovers, the eighth time this season that the Seawolves have forced their opponents into 20 or more turnovers... Sophomore Talisha Bridges (Kalamazoo, Mich.) tied her season-bests in points (nine) and rebounds (six) against St. Francis... Bridges scored eight of her nine points in the first half and played a season-high 30 minutes... Jeter had four steals against St. Francis (N.Y.) to move past Mykeema Ford ‘07 for ninth place on the Seawolves all-time steals list with 194... Jeter has 15 steals over the last three games.

VERMONT CATAMOUNTS (0-13, 0-1 AE)

Vermont dropped to 0-13 overall and 0-1 in league play... UVM lost twice in the Blue Sky Classic hosted by Dartmouth... The Catamounts fell 68-40 to Wagner and 68-39 to Kansas State... Sophomore Lauren Buschmann (St. Catharines, Ontario/Govenor Simcoe) was named to the Blue Sky Classic All-Tournament team after leading Vermont in scoring in both games and averaging 13 points and six rebounds, while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 80 percent from the foul line in the tournament... UVM fell, 62-49, to Hartford in the league opener... Senior Tonya Young (Canaan, N.H./Mascoma Valley Regional) led the Catamounts with 18 points off the bench... The Catamounts travel to Oklahoma State on Jan. 4 for the final non-conference game of the season and will host Boston U at 1 p.m. at Patrick Gymnasium on Jan. 9.

American East Conference

Events

Results