Eight America East women's basketball teams hope to start the new year -- and the America East Conference schedule -- off on the right foot Monday evening. The second season is upon us as teams will play for tournament seeding come March when all nine teams will play for an automatic NCAA berth at the 2012 America East Basketball Championships presented by Newman's Own.
Stay up-to-date on today's action via the live coverage links below or follow America East on Twitter for updates. Use the hashtag #AEHoops on Twitter to start and follow discussion with other fans.
Albany (6-7) and Hartford (9-5) begin the conference slate with a rematch of last year's 4-5 quarterfinal game which the Hawks won en route to their 2011 America East Championship. The teams split the regular-season series last year, with each winning on the road. This year, both teams have held strong on their home courts. Hartford is 6-0 this season at Chase Arena. Albany is 4-0 at home, but just 2-6 away from SEFCU Arena. The Great Danes will have to buck that trend if they want to start off the 16-game conference schedule with a 'W'. Watch the battle in the post between Hartford's Ruthanne Doherty and Albany's Julie Forster. Both are among league leaders in rebounding and scoring in 2011-12. In the 48-43 tournament game last year, Doherty picked up a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, and though Forster collected nine rebounds, she was held to just four points in 33 minutes.
At 5p, Maine (3-10) and Binghamton (6-7) will tip-off at the Events Center in Vestal. The Bearcats' senior-heavy team and the Black Bears under the direction of new head coach Richard Barron are both looking to get back on track. The Bearcats are hoping to get back up to .500, while the Black Bears have lost seven straight. Binghamton swept the series last season, averaging 74 points per game and limiting Maine to 47.5 points per game. The Bearcats have several scoring threats with three players averaging double-figure points. The Black Bears have a more spread-out offense with six players averaging 5.0 points or more, led by sophomore Ashleigh Roberts' 8.2 ppg.
The reigning America East Regular Season Champion Retrievers welcome the Wildcats to RAC Arena tonight. UMBC (6-7) took both meetings last season against New Hampshire (7-5), including a 69-51 victory in Baltimore. UNH is third in America East averaging 57.9 ppg and UMBC is fourth with 56.8 ppg. Those points can pile up in a hurry since both teams are hitting three-pointers at over 30 percent efficiency. These are also two of the best free-throw shooting teams in the conference as UMBC leads the league with 73.9 percent free-throw shooting and New Hampshire is second at 69.6 percent.
Vermont (6-7) returns to Burlington tonight after an eight-game road stretch. Tonight's game against Stony Brook (3-10) will be the Catamounts' first game back since a November 22 home game against Dartmouth. After starting off the season with six wins in seven games, UVM has seen some stiff competition and has lost six straight. On the other bench, the Seawolves, under the direction of new head coach Beth O'Boyle, are coming off their first back-to-back wins of the season. This comes after dropping 10 of their first 11 games. These teams couldn't be any different stat-wise. Vermont has a league-leading 61.2 points per game and ranks ninth in scoring defense, while Stony Brook has the stingiest defense in the league allowing just 53.7 ppg and ranks ninth with 44.5 ppg of offense.
Monday, Jan. 2
Maine at Binghamton, 5 p.m. l Live stats l Live video l Binghamton audio l Maine audio l
Albany at Hartford, 7 p.m. l Live stats l Live video l Hartford audio l
New Hampshire at UMBC, 7 p.m. l Live stats l Live video l
Stony Brook at Vermont, 7 p.m. l Live stats l Live video l Vermont audio l Stony Brook audio l