WEST HARTFORD, Conn.-- For the fourth-straight year, all four top seeds advanced to the semifinal round of the 2011 America East Men's and Women's Basketball Championship
presented by Newman's Own with wins in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded UMBC defeated eighth-seeded Stony Brook, 74-65, at the
Chase Family Arena in the first quarterfinal contest, while fourth-seeded Hartford edged out the lower seeded Albany Great
Danes, 48-43, in Friday's final game.
The
Retrievers (20-10, 14-3) were led by first team All-Conference selection Michelle
Kurowski who recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 26 points and
a season-high 13 rebounds. Fellow junior Erin Brown added 17 points.
Stony Brook
(7-23, 4-14) trailed by six at halftime and was unable to stop the UMBC attack
in the second half, falling behind by as many as 14 before a late rally brought
them back to within six.
"We knew
tonight was going to be a battle," said UMBC Head Coach Phil Stern. "We told
them it didn't have to be pretty; we just have to win by one."
The
league's active leader in career scoring, Stony Brook's Kirsten Jeter, finished
with 17 points, only two of which came in the opening half, and added a
team-high 11 boards. The senior will
graduate as one of the program's most prolific scorers.
Juanita
Cochran contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, including five on the
offensive end, and Sam Landers recorded 10 points on just 2-12 shooting from
the field for the Seawolves.
Topé
Obajolu provided 11 points, six boards and five assists to help the top seed
advance to its second semifinal appearance in school history. The last time the
Retrievers made a semifinal appearance was during their 2007 championship run as
the seven seed in the tournament.
"It feels
great. It's just another step towards our goal of winning an America East
Tournament Championship, and it's just another game to prove that we are a
legitimate number one seed in this conference," said senior forward Meghan
Colabella, who finished with 12 points and six assists.
Senior Jackie
Smith's free throws with 25 seconds left sealed the game for the Hawks (15-15,
12-5) who move on to face th in the Retrievers in the second semifinal on Sunday, Hartford's
seventh straight appearance in the final four of the tournament. The senior point guard scored five points and
dished out four assists on her home court.
"End of
game situations, when you're on the foul line, it all comes down to
preparation," said Smith of the clutch free throws. "If you practice under pressure, you'll make
them in the game."
Albany
(16-14, 9-8) pulled to within one point in the final minute but free throws
down the stretch thwarted any chance of a comeback. Down by three with less than a minute to go,
Albany was looking to score when Hartford's Nikkia Smith drew a charge, icing
the game for the Hawks.
Great Dane Cassandra Callaway led
all scorers with 17 points and added five rebounds. Ebone Henry, the team's leading scorer, was
held to eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the final minute.
Ruthanne
Doherty recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12
boards for the Hawks. Daphne Elliott,
whose free throws in the dying seconds gave Hartford its final five-point
lead, was the only other scorer in double digits with 11 points. Elliott added three rebounds and three
steals.
Hartford and UMBC will square off on Sunday's second semifinal game beginning at
1:30 p.m. on America East Television. UMBC swept the Hawks in the
regular season, including a double overtime game in Baltimore, but Hartford's
experience in the tournament can be pivotal.
"You look
at how many players in this league have played in an America East semifinal or
final, there's very few," said Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti, who obtained her America East-record 19th conference tournament win on Friday. "You can look at nine players on Hartford who have."