WEST HARTFORD, Conn.- Two familiar faces will square off for an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship next Saturday as second-seeded Boston U. and fourth-seeded Hartford won semifinal games Sunday afternoon at the 2011 America East Women's Basketball Championship presented by Newman's Own at Chase Family Arena. It will be the fourth meeting between the Terriers and Hawks in the championship game, all coming since 2005.
Boston U. advanced to the
conference title game for the seventh time in nine years after defeating
Binghamton, 59-44, in the first semifinal. Junior Alex
Young scored a career-high 37 points, including 26 in the second half, to bury
the third-seeded Bearcats. Her 7-of-9
shooting from behind the three-point arc tied the tournament record for the most three-pointers
made in a single game.
Binghamton
(19-12, 12-6) led 22-20 at the halftime break but couldn't slow the Terriers,
who shot 50 percent from the field in the second half. Boston University (17-13, 14-4) had one less turnover than the Bearcats,
but took advantage of them, scoring 17 points off turnovers opposed to just
seven for Binghamton.
"Give
credit to Boston, particularly Alex Young for her performance tonight," said
Binghamton Head Coach Nicole Scholl.
"They got on a roll at the end there and we just couldn't come back from
it."
America
East Player of the Year Chantell Alford scored just 11 points but dished out a
career-high seven assists and collected four rebounds.
When Young began to find her stroke, Alford quickly became a distributor
rather than a scorer.
"You are
going to have struggles throughout a basketball game," explained Alford of her
struggles in the first half, in which she scored four points. "It is how you respond to it. We came out strong in the second half and
came out with the win."
Senior Jackie Ward started the game
on fire, hitting her first three from behind the arc, but cooled off in the
second half, finishing 4-of-10 from range. She finished with 17 points and two assists while nursing an ankle
injury in her final game as a Bearcat. Junior Viive Rebane contributed 16 points and a game-high 13 boards.
Terriers
forwards Kerry Cashman and Caroline Stewart went cold on the offensive end,
scoring just five points combined, but grabbed 10 and 12 rebounds,
respectively.
The Hartford Hawks will be in the America East final for the sixth time in seven years after
defeating top-ranked UMBC, 66-48, on Sunday, however it will be the first time where Hartford will be vying for the championship away from its homecourt. It was also just the second time the fourth seed has eliminated the top seed in the tournament, and the first time since 1989.
The Hawks
(16-15, 13-5) got off to a 15-2 start and led the entire game by as many as 25
against a Retrievers team (20-11, 14-4) that swept them in the regular season.
Sophomore
Daphne Elliott led the Hawks with 13 points and nine boards. Guard Alex Hall added ten points, including a
pair of three-pointers that halted UMBC rallies, while fellow sophomore Nikkia
Smith provided seven points, four boards and a game-high four steals.
"I
definitely think this is pretty close to the best we have played this year," said
Hall of her team's stifling defense against arguably the most prolific offense
in the league.
Erin Brown
led the Retrievers with 14 points and nine rebounds while the team's leading
scorer, Michelle Kurowski, was limited to 12 points. Brown and Kurowski were both selected to the
all-conference first team last week and came up big in the quarterfinals
against Stony Brook.
Hartford's
Jackie Smith and Ruthanne Doherty both got into foul trouble early but combined
for 13 points, six boards and four steals.
"It was
like everything came together at the right time and that's exactly, as a coach,
what you dream of; that you are playing at your best in March," claimed Head
Coach Jennifer Rizzotti, who is searching for her sixth career NCAA Tournament
berth as a coach.
The Hawks
will travel to Boston University's Case Gym to take on the Terriers at 7 p.m.
next Saturday, March 6 to decide the America East Women's
Basketball Champion. The game will be produced by America East Television and will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet, ESPN3, AmericaEast.com, and be available to ESPN Full Court subscribers. Ticket information will be released next week.