CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- After she led the Terriers over ACC foe Boston College last week, Boston U. junior guard Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) picks up her first Player of the Week award this season. Stony Brook University forward Kellie Krueger (Wilsonville, Ore./Wilsonville) repeats as the Rookie of the Week to round out the America East weekly awards for the period ending Sun. Dec. 18.
Alford, the reigning America East Player of the Year, helped Boston U. top ACC foe Boston College with a season-best performance last Tuesday. In the Terriers' first win in the series against their crosstown rivals since 1990, Alford netted a season-high 23 points, including 15 in the first half. She also compiled six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Alford hit 7-of-14 field-goal attempts and sank 5-of-10 three-pointers.
Alford improved her free-throw percentage of 92.1 which ranks second in America East with a 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe against the Eagles. She is fourth in the conference with 13.5 points per game, sixth with 2.7 assists per game and second with 2.6 steals per game.
Krueger garners her second straight Rookie of the Week award. The freshman forward scored 10 points and corralled six rebounds at Fairleigh Dickinson, making just her third collegiate start and playing 35 minutes. She shot 4-for-8 (50 percent) from the field and hit both her free-throw attempts. Krueger also swiped three steals and registered a block. On Saturday at Seton Hall she went 1-for-2 from the field and collected another steal in 19 minutes of play.
Monday, December 19
Massachusetts at Binghamton, 6 p.m. l Live stats l Live video l Live audio l
Progress Report
The conference stands at 45-46 (.495) this season. The latest RPI Report from RPIratings.com ranks America East 11th out of 33 conferences. Hartford remained at 24 as the league's top-rated team. Both Albany (109) and Boston U. (128) climbed up 20+ spots with improvements of 24 and 21 spots, respectively. The Hawks, Great Danes and Terriers all carry three-game win streaks into the week.
Conference Rankings America East Teams
1. Big 12 24. Hartford (8-3)
2. Big East 109. Albany (6-4)
3. Big Ten 116. UMBC (5-5)
4. SEC 128. Boston U. (6-4)
5. Pac-12 179. Binghamton (5-5)
6. ACC 208. New Hampshire (5-4)
7. Colonial 228. Vermont (6-4)
8. Atlantic 10 241. Stony Brook (1-10)
9. West Coast 308. Maine (3-8)
10. Missouri Valley
11. America East
12. Summit
13. Big Sky
14. Mid-American
15. Big West
Against The Best
Among the league's first 91 games, 30 have been against teams that advanced to a 2011 postseason tournament. America East is 14-16 against those teams, including 2-0 last week. Most of those wins have come against WNIT participants as the league owns a 9-4 record against those teams. America East is 2-11 against NCAA teams, with victories coming at Central Florida (Hartford) and against Marist (Boston U.). The league is also 3-1 against the WBI field.
Gimme A Break
With final exams and the holiday season, the league schedule is in the midst of a slow period. Last week featured just eight games, while the upcoming week has nine games slated. With the holidays also come tournaments, and the first for America East teams is this week. Maine travels to Gainesville to participate in Florida's Gator Holiday Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday.
TV Guide
Time Warner Cable Sports will broadcast Albany's game on the road at Canisius on Thursday, a 5:15 tip-off. The Great Danes are 1-0 on TV this year after previously defeating Siena Dec. 3 on TWCS.
Happy To Be Home
America East teams are 23-15 (.605) overall this season on home courts. Particularly, the teams atop the standings have taken care of business on their home courts. Hartford (5-0), Boston U. (4-0) and Albany (4-0) all remain undefeated at home, while Vermont is 3-1. The Hawks put that record on the line Dec. 29 against Harvard, while the other three teams will have to wait until conference play.
Reed's Hot Hand
University of New Hampshire junior Cari Reed found her shooter's touch Dec. 6 against Harvard. The guard exploded for a league-high 32 points including a school-record eight three-pointers. The eight treys marks the highest number of made shots from downtown by an America East player since Binghamton's Erica Carter's conference-record nine on Dec. 7, 2009. Reed tied three others for the second-highest single-game three-point field goals made in America East history.
Playing With The Big Boys
Hartford and Boston U. each upended Boston College during a three-day span, Dec. 10 and Dec. 13. It was the Hawks' first win over the Eagles in program history, and the Terriers' first over their crosstown rivals since 1990. The wins marked the league's first over an ACC team this season, and the first since Vermont's two wins against the ACC (vs. Boston College, NC State) in 2009-10. The victories wer also the second and third win for an America East team over a Big 6 Conference team this season. Boston U. defeated Providence out of the Big East on Nov. 11.
Join The Club
Sat. Dec. 3 marked a special day for three players who all reached the 1,000 point milestone within hours of one another. New Hampshire senior Denise Beliveau first hit the mark against Holy Cross, followed by UMBC senior Erin Brown against Princeton. Boston U. junior Chantell Alford tallied her 1,000th career point in the first half against West Virginia. Alford is the first junior to accomplish the feat since UMBC's Michelle Kurowski and Binghamton's Andrea Holmes each scored their 1,000th points last January. The league now has six active 1,000-point scorers, the highest number of active members since there were 10 during the 2009-10 season.
Going National
The America East announced a national broadcast package last week that made league history. First, a five-year deal with ESPN includes a minimum of 47 national appearances for the league's men's and women's basketball programs on ESPN platforms, the most in conference history. The package includes seven women's hoops games on ESPN3, including the America East Championship semifinals and final. The league also signed a contract with CBS Sports Network, putting five America East basketball games on national television. A February 19 matchup between UMBC and Hartford at Chase Family Arena will mark the first-ever nationally televised conference women's basketball game.
America East Women's Basketball
TV Package
Jan. 25 Boston U. at UMBC (ESPN3)
Feb. 1 Vermont at Boston U. (ESPN3)
Feb. 11 Binghamton at Hartford (ESPN3)
Feb. 19 UMBC at Hartford (CBS Sports Network)
Feb. 25 Boston U. at Hartford (ESPN3)
March 4 America East Semifinals (ESPN3)
TBD America East Championship (ESPN3)
Team Notebooks:
Albany (6-4, 0-0 AE) defeated Sacred Heart 64-54 in the lone game of the week... Sophomore guard Lindsey Lowrie (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) had a breakout game, scoring a career-high 26 points. Lowrie went 11-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range... Senior Kate Cronin (Amityville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) made her first start of the season and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds... Senior Tabitha Makopondo (Gainesville, Fla./Buchholz) continued to make serious contributions across the box score, scoring six points and grabbing five rebounds while adding three assists and three steals... Junior Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) finished with eight points and nine boards, while also handing out a game-high six assists... Albany will return to action on Thursday, visiting Canisius at 5:15 p.m. in the last game before the winter break.
Binghamton (5-5, 0-0 AE) dropped a 66-56 decision at home to Rider on Saturday... Senior point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) now has 1,240 career points and moves into sixth place all-time in scoring. Against Rider, she passed Karen McClelland (1996-00), who had 1,227 career points, and Alicia Brennan, who scored 1,229 career points. In fifth place is Rachel Laws (2002-06) with 1,246 career points... Senior forward Viive Rebane, (Talinn, Estonia/Audantes) has 984 career points. She needs 16 points to become the 14th player in Binghamton women’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Boston U. (6-4, 0-0 AE) defeated Boston College for first time since Jan. 31, 1990 as BC had won the last five meetings... Two Terriers scored in double-digits. Junior Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) posted 23 points and junior Mo Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) added 17... Senior Caroline Stewart (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Regional) hauled in game-high 10 rebounds...Boston U. now has three-game winning streak and is off until Dec. 29.
Hartford (8-3, 0-0 AE) picked up a 60-42 win over Dartmouth in its only action last week... The Hawks outscored the Big Green by 21 points in the second half, while limiting Dartmouth to just three second half baskets and a 13 percent shooting effort (3-of-23) in the final 20 minutes... For the game, Hartford was led by junior post Nikkia Smith (Montville, Conn./Montville) who finished with 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half. She also added five steals and five rebounds, while finishing the game 6-of-8 from the floor... Joining her in double figures was Daphne Elliott (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) with 11 points and sophomore Taylor Clark (Sayre, Pa./Athens Area) who finished with a career-high 10 points... The Hawks finished their only game last week shooting 22-of-50 from the field (44 percent), while connecting on 57 percent in the second half alone (13-of-23)... The Hawks also had one of their best shooting performances at the free throw line where they were 14-of-15 for 93 percent overall... The Hawks will play a single game in the week ahead when they travel to Richmond, Va. for a homecoming of sorts for junior Ruthanne Doherty (Richmond, Va./L.C. Bird)... The Hawks and Spiders are scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip on Thursday, December 22.
Maine (3-7, 0-0 AE) will play its first game on Dec. 20 after a nine-day break when it takes part in the Gator Holiday Classic, hosted by the University of Florida. Maine will battle Duquesne in game one before playing either Charleston Southern or Florida on day two... This will be the first-ever meeting between Maine and Duquesne in the Black Bears’ 48 years of basketball. The Black Bears enter the contest 1-2 this season against the Atlantic-10 conference as they won at Rhode Island 62-58 on Nov. 13 before dropping contests against George Washington (54-46) and at Massachusetts (63-54)... Sophomore Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del.) enters the tournament averaging 8.8 points per game to go along with 4.2 rebounds... Senior tri-captain Brittany Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) has been Maine’s on-court leader for much of the season as she has logged a team-high 28.5 minutes through the Black Bears’ first 10 games. Williams is turning in 7.7 points per game and has also notched 1.9 assists per game... Fellow senior Samantha Wheeler (Derry, N.H.) has returned to the Black Bears’ rotation after missing 27 games due to post-concussion symptoms. Wheeler has worked her way back into the starting lineup while averaging 7.3 points per game to go along with a team-high 5.0 rebounds. Wheeler has posted double-figures in two of her last three games including an 18-point effort on Dec. 8 vs James Madison, one shy of her career high.
UMBC (5-5, 0-0 AE) did not play last week during final exams… The Retrievers will visit in-state rival Navy on Tuesday… Senior forward Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) leads UMBC with 16.0 ppg and 6.4 rpg this season. The America East’s leading scorer, she has scored in double figures in all 10 of the Retrievers’ games on the year… Senior guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) ranks third all-time at UMBC with 1,397 career points, while Brown is 11th with 1,068… They are two of just 12 Retrievers ever with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their career… Brown also ranks fourth with 140 career three-pointers, while Kurowski is seventh with 130… In addition, senior center Topé Obajolu (Randallstown, Md./Archbishop Carroll) is second all-time with 125 career blocks.
UNH (5-4, 0-0 AE) picked up a 52-33 road win over non-conference opponent Rhode Island in the team's lone contest of the week... UNH faced a 10-point deficit five minutes into the second stanza, but closed out the final 15 minutes on a 32-3 run for the comeback victory. New Hampshire trailed 21-15 at halftime, but turned it around in the second stanza, shooting 50 percent on 14-of-28 from the floor and limiting the Rams to just 14.3 percent shooting in the half (4-of-28)... In the contest, the Wildcats shot 37.5 from the field and outrebounded the Rams by a 45 to 28 margin... Senior Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass.), junior Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine) and sophomore Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H.) tallied 15 points apiece to pace the UNH offense. Frame shot 5-of-9 from the floor and added a game-high 10 rebounds for the double-double performance in her first career game in a Wildcat uniform. Beliveau, who scored 13 points in the second half, added nine rebounds, while Hogan was a perfect 4-for-4 at the line and finished with three assists and two steals ... The Wildcats look to make it three in a row on Dec. 21 when they visit Wagner at 6 p.m.
The Seawolves (1-10, 0-0 AE) dropped road contests at FDU and Seton Hall last week... Stony Brook led by three at halftime against FDU but the Knights then went on a 20-4 run to open the second half to take control... Junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) led Stony Brook with a career-high 13 points and 10 rebounds. It was her first career double-double... Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) chipped in with 12 points. and senior guard Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.J.) led SBU with a season-high 12 rebounds... SBU out-rebounded FDU 45-41 and forced the Knights into 20 turnovers... SBU trailed by just nine at halftime against Seton Hall. Stony Brook trailed by just one at 13-12, with 8:24 left in the first half but the Pirates ended the half on a 10-2 run... Stony Brook has just one game this week, hosting Morgan State at Pritchard Gymnasium on Wednesday.
After a 10-day lay off for final exams, Vermont (6-4, 0-0 AE) dropped to 6-4 on the year with a 94-41 loss at No. 25 Nebraska on Sunday... Sophomore Sam Simononis (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) paced UVM with a team-high 11 points in her first game back from an injury which sidelined her for two games... The Catamounts are in the midst of an eight-game road swing and are 2-3 in the first five games of the stretch... A UVM freshman has posted a career high in four of the last five games for the Catamounts... Vermont continues its road trip at Marquette on Dec. 21 (1 p.m. EST) before breaking for the holidays.