Repeat Winners Jeter and Roberts Garner Awards

2/14/2011 9:30:00 PM

America East Communications

Cambridge, Mass.-- Impressive weeks land Stony Brook senior forward Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont) the America East Player of the Week award and University of Maine freshman guard Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del./Concord) the Rookie of the Week honor. Jeter is a two-time recipient this year, while Roberts is being recognized for the fifth time this season.

Jeter averaged 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 steals and 1.5 assists per game in two America East contests last week while shooting .469 (15-for-32) from the field and .833 (15-for-18) from the charity stripe.

In a win over Maine on Saturday, Jeter scored 26 points, pulled in seven rebounds, snagged a career-high seven steals and dished out two assists. She also went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line. Earlier in the week against New Hampshire, Jeter tallied 19 points, six rebounds and four steals with .500 (7-for-14) shooting from the floor and a 5-for-6 effort from the foul line.

In league play, Jeter tops America East with 17.5 ppg and 3.75 spg. She is the leading active player in career points, rebounds and steals.

Roberts finished first among all rookies last week with 13.5 ppg and second with 6.5 rpg. She also averaged 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists per game while shooting .357 (10-for-28) from the field and .778 (7-for-9) from the free-throw line.

Roberts began the week against Hartford just one rebound shy of a double-double. She finished with 10 points, nine boards, two steals and one assist against the Hawks. On the road at Stony Brook on Saturday, Roberts scored a team-high 17 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.

Since league play has begun, the freshman is ninth in America East with 12.8 ppg, and 14th with 6.1 rpg, leading the Black Bears in both categories.

Upcoming Action

Monday, February 14
*Albany at Vermont 7 p.m. (Pink Zone) l Live Stats l Live Video l WVMT Radio l

The Great Danes earned a 53-43 win in the year's first meeting with the Catamounts, breaking an eight-game rut in the all-time series.
Both teams are coming off road wins against the top teams in the conference standings. Albany handed Boston U. its first league loss last Wednesday in Boston, while Vermont came away from Vestal with a win over Binghamton, the Bearcats' first home loss all season.
Albany has three players averaging double-digit points against league foes, led by sophomore guard Ebone Henry's 16.3 ppg.
Vermont sophomore Lauren Wheeler, who is averaging 7.4 ppg this season, has reached 10 points or more in five conference games this year after hitting twin figures just twice during non-conference play.

Thursday, February 17
*Boston U. at UMBC    7 p.m.
*New Hampshire at Vermont    7 p.m.
*Hartford at Binghamton    7 p.m.
*Stony Brook at Albany    7 p.m.

* America East Conference Game

Road Warriors

Road teams went 6-2 (.750) in America East action last week. Boston U. and Binghamton both dropped their first conference home games, while Vermont handed the Bearcats their first loss at the Events Center during the 2010-11 campaign.

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 (1,426), rebounds (710) and steals (239). There have been only 18 America East women's basketball players to ever achieve at least 1,400 points and 700 rebounds in their careers , while Jeter is 11 steals away from becoming just the fifth America East player all time to accumulate at least 1,400 points, 700 rebounds and 250 steals.

All-Time 1,400-Point, 700-Rebound, 250-Steal Club

Player, school    Years    Pts/Rebs/Stls.
Katasha Artis, NU    '92-'95    1,551/785/260
Liz Coffin, Maine    '84-'88    2,153/1351/309
Kate Gordon, Hofstra    '94-'98    1,714/1031/272
Courtnay Pilypaitis, UVM    '06-'10    1,993/906/279

In It To Win It

This week should prove to be important for those teams vying for the top seeds in the America East Championship March 3-6. The top four teams in the standings--Boston U., UMBC, Binghamton and Hartford--square off against one another on Thursday with the Terriers traveling to face the Retrievers and the Hawks venturing out to Vestal for a rematch with the Bearcats. Boston U. and Binghamton won the earlier season matchups. Then on Sunday, UMBC and Hartford take center stage in West Hartford in an America East Television game broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet and MASN. Tip-off at 1p from Chase Arena will also be available on ESPN3.com and for free on www.AmericaEast.com. The Retrievers won the first meeting in 2011 in double overtime at the RAC.

Academic Studs

Last week, three women's basketball student-athletes were tabbed Capital One Academic All-District First Team honorees by CoSIDA. Albany sophomore Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington), Hartford senior Mary Silvia (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) and UMBC junior Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) are now all eligible to receive Academic All-America distinction later this month.

(Winning) More With Less (Games)

Nearing the end of the conference season, several teams have already matched or exceeded last year's overall and conference win totals. Binghamton and UMBC are both in the midst of their best starts since joining America East, while UMBC and Albany are both one win shy of their best Division I era win total.

                        2009-10    2010-11
UMBC             13-17 (7-9)    16-10 (10-3)
Binghamton    11-19 (7-9)    16-9 (9-3)
Albany             11-19 (4-12)    13-11 (6-5)

Block Party

With 35 blocked shots this season, University of New Hampshire's Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) now has 152 for her career. With three last week, she surpassed former Great Dane Gia Sanders (2004-08) for eighth place all-time in America East. McDonald ranks third in America East this season with 1.4 blocks per game.

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
Albany   Vermont      8
UMBC               Vermont             6
UMBC               Hartford             6
Maine                UMBC                5
Binghamton    Vermont               5

200 Strong

UMBC's Phil Stern coached his 200th career victory in the Retrievers' 65-57 win over Stony Brook on Saturday, January 29. He joins Boston U. Head Coach Kelly Greenberg as the two America East coaches to reach that milestone this year. Greenberg earned her 200th career victory in the Terriers' 72-59 win over Albany on January 15. They are joined by Hartford Head Coach Jennifer Rizzotti as the trio of 200-win coaches in America East.

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) have 904 and 880 points, respectively.

Scheduling Strong

According to Collegiate Basketball News' RPIratings.com, America East squads have played the 13th-toughest non-conference schedule out of the 33 conferences. Hartford has had the most grueling schedule, ranked the 28th toughest in the country, while Vermont's non-league schedule is ranked 59th in strength with seven meetings against top-100 foes.

Reporting In

Collegiate Basketball News ranked America East 29th out of 33 conferences in the weekly RPI Report, slipping one spot from the previous week. Albany (221) made the biggest leap of any of the league's teams, moving up 11 spots with a win over first-place Boston U. (195). UMBC (185) overcame the Terriers as the highest-rated America East squad.

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, and the first triple overtime game in Wildcat program history.

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 while Albany has also been ranked as high as 23 this season. In the most current poll (Feb. 8), Boston U. is ranked 25th, while UMBC and Binghamton are receiving eight and six points, respectively.

Triple Up

Boston U. sophomore guard Mo Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) tallied a triple-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists on November 17 at home against Yale, one of only 12 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.

ALBANY GREAT DANES (13-11, 6-5 AE)

Albany split two conference games last week... The Great Danes fell to Hartford, 61-56, at home, before defeating previously unbeaten Boston U., 77-68, on the road... Sophomore guard Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) led the Great Danes, averaging 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. She netted 17 points in both of the two games, while grabbing nine rebounds and recording five steals and a block at Boston U... Junior guard Cassandra Callaway (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) netted a career-high 25 points against Boston U., going 6-for-6 from the free throw line and 8-of-11 from the floor... Sophomore forward Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) recorded her ninth double-double of the season with a 14-point, 10-rebound performance against Hartford. Forster shot a team-best .667 (12-18) from the floor in the two games... The Great Danes have three games this week, visiting Vermont on Monday before hosting Stony Brook Thursday and Binghamton on Sunday.

BINGHAMTON BEARCATS (16-9, 9-3 AE)

Binghamton had its largest home attendance in program history on Saturday against Vermont when 3,263 fans came to the Events Center. It broke the program record of 2,499 fans which witnessed the Binghamton-Albany game back in Janauary, 2006. In addition, Saturday's crowd was also the largest home crowd for any America East team this season. The Bearcats lead the conference in attendance for the first time since the 2006-07 season... In her past three games, junior forward Viive Rebane (Talinn, Estonia/Audantes) has averaged 18.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per contest. Rebane is now 10th in the conference in scoring (11.6 ppg), fifth in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and leads America East with a .511 field goal percentage... Freshman guard Jasbriell Swain (Memphis, Tenn./Horn Lake) has averaged 13.0 rebounds in her past four games. She has reached double figures each time. For the season, Swain ranks a team-best fourth in the America East with 7.9 rebounds per game... As a team, Binghamton continues to lead the America East in scoring defense (55.1), scoring margin (+4.0), field goal percentage defense (.352), rebounding offense (41.3), rebounding defense (36.7) and rebounding margin (4.6)

BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS (13-11, 10-2 AE)

Boston University dropped a pair of games last week to Albany, 77-68, and Hartford, 66-59... To begin the week, the Terriers fell to the Great Danes in a tightly contested game that saw 15 lead changes ... Sophomore Mo Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) led the Terriers' starting five in double digits, pouring in 15 points, while junior Alex Young (Hickory, N.C./St. Stephen's) added 14 with nine coming from behind the arc... Both teams brought down 34 boards, however, Albany was more effective from the charity stripe going 19-for-25 while Boston U. was 9-for-14... On Sunday, the Terriers fell by seven points to the Hawks down in West Hartford, Conn... Sophomore Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) poured in 19 points, while senior Kerry Cashman (Newfields, N.H./Exeter) recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds... With her 19-point performance, Alford surpassed 800 career points as just a sophomore... Boston U. will travel down to UMBC on Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest, and will turn around and host Stony Brook on Sunday at 1 p.m.

HARTFORD HAWKS (9-14, 6-4 AE)

Hartford scored a pair of victories last week, extending its season-long win streak to five games with a 62-49 road win at Maine and a 66-59 win over Boston U. at home... Against the Black Bears junior Ilicia Mathis (Hamden, Conn./Hill Regional Career) led the team and was the only Hartford player in double figures with 12 points, while senior Jackie Smith (Westfield, Mass./Holyoke) added nine points all on three pointers... Smith followed that performance up with a 4-of-5 effort from beyond the three-point arc to finish with 12 points and added six boards in the home win over the Terriers... Leading the Hawks against Boston U. were senior Mary Silvia (Reading, Mass./Reading) and sophomore Ruthanne Doherty (Richmond, Va./L.C. Bird) who both finished with 14 points... Doherty finished with her second double-double of the season with a team-high 11 rebounds helping the Hawks to an impressive 45-26 advantage on the boards... Overall against Boston U., the Hawks finished the game shooting .670 from beyond the arc (8-of-12), including a perfect 4-of-4 effort from Silvia... The Hawks will again play two games in the week ahead, the first on the road at Binghamton (Thursday at 7p) before returning home to host UMBC on Sunday at 1 pm for the WBCA PinkZone game.

MAINE BLACK BEARS (3-22, 1-12 AE)

Maine dropped a pair of games over the past week, defeated at home by Hartford, 62-49, and on the road at Stony Brook, 66-62... Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del.) scored 10 points with nine rebounds against Hartford, including her 250th point and 100th rebound and after a team-high 17 point performance against Stony Brook, now has double-figures in five straight and double-figures in 18 of her 24 games played. Roberts ranks 12th in the league with 11.0 points per game and is currently the top-scoring rookie in America East. Roberts ranks ninth with 12.8 points per game in conference play only... Amber Smith (Ipswich, Mass.) also notched her 100th career rebound against Hartford. Smith has her own four-game double-figure scoring streak going in which she has raised her scoring average from 10.0 to 10.5 during the streak... Senior Tanna Ross (Newburgh, Maine) sits just 45 points shy of 700 for her career with three regular season games to go... Maine continues to work its way through the free-throw shooting ranks as it is now second in the conference in free throw percentage at .698. Maine is also second in the conference with 38.6 rebounds per contest and continues to lead the league in blocks with 3.8 per game... The Black Bears will honor the senior on Sunday against Vermont at the annual Pink Zone game.

UMBC RETRIEVERS (16-10, 10-3 AE)

UMBC won a pair of America East road games last week to move into second place in the conference standings… The Retrievers defeated Vermont, 43-32, on Wednesday… Junior forward Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds… UMBC held Vermont to 17.0 percent shooting, the lowest field goal percentage ever by a Retriever opponent. The Catamounts’ 32 points scored were a UMBC Division I record and the fewest the Retrievers have allowed since 1981… Junior center Topé Obajolu (Randallstown, Md./Archbishop Carroll) rejected two shots in the game to break Monica Logan’s 14-year-old school record for blocks in a season with 48. She ranks fourth all-time with 112 career blocks… UMBC won its third straight game, 63-55, over New Hampshire on Sunday… Brown again scored 19 points, while senior forward Meghan Colabella (Upper Montclair, N.J.) netted a season-high 16… The Retrievers scored 44 points and shot 58.3 percent in the second half… The first of Brown’s two three-pointers in the game was the 100th of her career… UMBC’s three juniors – Brown, Obajolu and guard Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) have accounted for 69.5 percent of the Retrievers’ offense this season. All three rank among the America East’s top 15 scoring leaders, led by Kurowski’s league-best 15.2 ppg. She ranks ninth all-time at UMBC with 1,192 career points… The Retrievers’ 10 America East wins are their most-ever in eight seasons in the conference. In addition, their 16 overall victories are just one shy of the school’s Division I record… After starting the season 1-5, UMBC is 15-5 in its last 20 contests… The Retrievers host league-leading Boston U. on Thursday in the annual WBCA Pink Zone event, then visit Hartford on Sunday in a game that will be televised on MASN.

NEW HAMPSHIRE (8-17, 5-8 AE)

New Hampshire finished its most recent week of action with a record of 1-1... The Wildcats opened up the week with a 72-58 win over Stony Brook (Feb. 9) at Pritchard Gymnasium... Senior center Jill McDonald (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) scored a game-high 20 points and junior forward Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds... Beliveau was named the America East Player of the Game for UNH, rounding out the contest with a season-high four steals and two assists... Junior guard Lauren Wells (West Chester, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) added 17 points, three assists and two steals. She finished the night 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Her four three-point field goals tied a career high... New Hampshire shot a season-best 57.1 percent (24-42) from the floor and 57.1 percent (8-14) from deep, holding SBU to 36.7 percent (22-60) shooting.. New Hampshire capped off the week with a 63-55 loss to UMBC (Feb. 13) at Lundholm Gymnasium... Beliveau scored 14 points and collected 10 rebounds to record her conference-high 10th double-double of the season. She was named the America East Player of the Game for her efforts, registering her third straight double-double in the loss... Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North) added 12 points, five boards, five assists and one steal... The Wildcats are back in action Thursday, Feb. 17 (7 p.m.) when they hit the road to take on the University of Vermont at Patrick Gymnasium.

STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (5-19, 2-10 AE)

The Seawolves split a pair of home games this week, falling to New Hampshire, 72-58, on Wednesday before knocking off Maine, 66-62, on Saturday... Senior Kirsten Jeter (Elmont, N.Y.) scored a game-high 26 points against Maine. She also had seven rebounds and set a career-high with seven steals... Jeter had 19 points and six rebounds against New Hampshire, becoming the seventh player in program history to score 1,400 points. She also had six rebounds to eclipse 700 career rebounds. She is only the fourth player in program history to have 1,400 points and 700 rebounds and just the second player in the Division I era. Jeter leads the America East in scoring during conference play (17.5 ppg)... Stony Brook scored 30 points off 32 Maine turnovers... The Seawolves tied season highs in offensive rebounds (22) and steals (15) against the Black Bears... Stony Brook shot a season-high 40 free throws against Maine... Sophomore Juanita Cochran (Saginaw, Mich.) had 10 points and six rebounds against Maine.

VERMONT CATAMOUNTS (4-21, 4-8 AE)

Vermont went 1-1 on the week... The Catamounts dropped a 43-32 decision to UMBC on Wednesday... UVM made just one field goal in the first half and a program-low eight field goals for the game... Vermont rebounded with a 59-58 victory at Binghamton on Saturday... Junior Lauren Wheeler (Ancaster, Ontario/Westdale) scored a career-high 22 points, including a 3-for-4 effort from three-point range, to lead the Catamounts... Senior Tonya Young (Canaan, N.H./Mascoma Valley Regional) added 18 points, 14 in the second half, and seven rebounds for UVM... Vermont returns to action with three games this week. The Catamounts host Albany on Monday (Feb. 14) at 7 p.m., then face UNH at 7 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 17) at Patrick Gym and travel to Maine for a 1 p.m. game at Alfond Arena on Sunday (Feb. 20).

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