CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of New Hampshire junior Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine/Waterville) and University of Vermont freshman forward Kayla Burchill (Portland, Maine/Deering) each notched double-doubles and led their teams to victories last week. Frame takes home the America East Player of the Week while Burchill brings the Rookie of the Week award to Burlington for the second straight week.
Frame paced the Wildcats to two wins last week which inched them closer to the top of the America East standings. She averaged 17 points, nine rebounds and 3.5 assists per game against Maine and UMBC, while going 12-of-24 from the field and 10-of-15 from the charity stripe.
Frame was the driving force behind UNH's win over UMBC, avenging a loss to the Retrievers in the conference opener, recording a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. In her fourth double-double performance of the season, Frame went 11-of-17 from the floor and added three assists. She scored 14 second-half points, including a tough layup with 44 seconds left to stretch the lead to four and seal the 75-68 win.
Midweek in Orono, Frame collected eight rebounds and a season-high four assists while scoring seven points. She finished 5-of-6 from the free-throw line against the Black Bears.
Frame is averaging 14.6 ppg in league play, third-best in America East, and tearing down 6.7 rpg. She leads the team with 16.7 ppg overall.
Burchill captures Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season. It is also the fifth time this season a Catamount freshman has picked up the award. Burchill registered her first career double-double in Vermont's only outing of the week, a 63-36 win over Stony Brook which avenged a loss to the Seawolves earlier this month.
The freshman scored 14 points and collected 10 rebounds while also adding one assist and one steal against Stony Brook. She drilled three treys and finished 5-of-13 from the field. Burchill also made her only free-throw attempt of the day.
Burchill is the top-scoring rookie in America East with 8.4 ppg on the season. She ranks second in three-pointers made (2.3 pg) and third in three-point field-goal percentage (36.9 percent).
Progress Report
The conference finished off the non-conference schedule with a 53-64 (.453) mark. The latest RPI Report from RPIratings.com ranks America East 14th out of 33 conferences. The top two America East teams both moved up eight spots this week. Boston U. improved to 78, while Hartford re-entered the top-100 at 100. New Hampshire made the biggest move up, climbing 10 spots to 193.
Conference Rankings America East Teams
1. Big 12 78. Boston U. (15-6)
2. Big East 100. Hartford (13-10)
3. SEC 120. Albany (13-9)
4. Big Ten 144. UMBC (11-11)
5. Pac-12 193. New Hampshire (12-9)
6. ACC 228. Binghamton (10-12)
7. Colonial 256. Vermont (9-13)
8. Atlantic 10 298. Stony Brook (4-18)
9. West Coast 311. Maine (5-16)
10. Missouri Valley
11. Conference USA
12. Mid-American
13. Horizon
14. America East
15. Ivy
Splitsville
The second half of the America East schedule began last week and the races are already getting interesting. All four home-and-home series of the double round-robin conference slate that were completed over the weekend split. The four teams which lost previous matchups -- Hartford, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont -- avenged those defeats on Saturday.
Jan. 2 Jan. 28
Albany/Hartford Albany, 40-37 Hart, 65-57
UMBC/UNH UMBC, 67-65 UNH, 75-68
Bing/Maine Bing, 72-54 Maine, 48-47
SBU/Vermont SBU, 54-47 UVM, 63-36
Lights, Camera, Action!
The America East women's basketball television slate continues this Wednesday from Boston U.'s Agganis Arena where the Terriers host Vermont live on ESPN3. The game, a 5 p.m. first tip, is part of a doubleheader with the men's teams. The Catamounts seek revenge for an earlier season loss for the second time in as many games, while the Terriers are looking to remain undefeated in league play. In the teams' first meeting on January 4 in Burlington, Vermont trailed by as many as 19 points but rallied in the second half before Boston U. hung on for a 61-60 victory. Dave Popkin will have the play-by-play from Wednesday's contest, while Leah Secondo will provide color analysis.
Streaking
Boston U. is atop the standings thanks to an eight-game win streak which began on the first day of the conference season, Jan. 2. Not dropping a contest since a New Year's Eve matchup at St. John's, the Terriers own the longest win streak by an America East team this year and are tied for the 18th-longest active winning streak in Division I going into the week.
Overachievers
With seven games left in the regular season, three America East teams have already surpassed last year's win totals. New Hampshire under second-year head coach Maureen Magarity is 12-9 after finishing the 2010-11 season with nine wins. Vermont, also under a second-year head coach in Lori Gear McBride, surpassed last year's five-win total in just the first seven games of the season and is now 9-13. Led by first-year head coach Richard Barron, Maine picked up its fifth and sixth wins of the season over the last 10 days to guarantee a better finish than last year's 4-25 mark.
Top Of Their C.L.A.S.S.
On Jan. 25, New Hampshire senior Denise Beliveau (3.51 GPA in Exercise Science) and UMBC senior Michelle Kurowski (3.82 in Psychology) were selected as top-10 finalists for the 2012 Lowe's Senior C.L.A.S.S. Award for women's basketball from a group of 30 candidates. America East and the Pac-12 are the only conferences with multiple finalists on the ballot. Fan voting, conducted on Facebook and at http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/ through March 18, counts towards one-third of the selection process. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, will announce the women’s Senior CLASS Award® winner during the NCAA Women’s Final Four®, which will be held April 1 and 3 in Denver.
Anyone's Game
Home courts tend to lend an advantage to teams, but America East road teams have really bucked the trend. Visitors have gone 21-19 (.525) during conference play thus far, eliminating that home court advantage. Each of the nine teams have at least one win on the road.
It Takes Two
Look around the league and you'll find a lot of veteran duos, upperclassmen who carry a lot of the load for their teams. The highest-scoring tandem belongs to New Hampshire as senior Denise Beliveau and junior Morgan Frame together average 30.7 points per game, more than half of the team's average output. UMBC seniors Erin Brown and Michelle Kurowski also combine to score the majority of the Retrievers' points, checking in at 28.3 ppg. Check out some of the other prominent upperclassmen pairs around America East.
Denise Beliveau/Morgan Frame, UNH 30.7 ppg
Erin Brown/Michelle Kurowski, UMBC 28.3 ppg
Andrea Holmes/Orla O'Reilly, Binghamton 26.1 ppg
Chantell Alford/Alex Young, BU 23.6 ppg
Ebone Henry/Julie Forster, Albany 23.3 ppg
Ruthanne Doherty/Daphne Elliott, UH 23.1 ppg
TV Guide
In addition to Wednesday's ESPN3 broadcast, there are three other televised games this week. Wednesday night also features UNH at Hartford at 7 p.m. on CPTV Sports, as well as Stony Brook at Binghamton at 7 p.m. on Time Warner Cable Sports (TWCS). Another SUNY rivalry, Stony Brook at Albany, will air on TWCS on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Albany will be celebrating its Big Purple Growl, and will have a doubleheader with the men's team.
Going National
The America East announced a national broadcast package earlier this season 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)
D-D-Defense!
Through all games of Jan. 22, five America East teams rank among the top 60 teams in Division I for scoring defense. Albany's league-leading 52.8 points allowed per game ranks 19th and Boston U.'s 54.2 sits 29th. Stony Brook (56.1; 50th), Hartford (56.3; 54th) and Binghamton (56.5; 60th) also rank in that group.
Board Games
Seven America East players are averaging at least 8.0 rebounds per game led by Albany junior Julie Forster with 9.5 rpg which ranks 47th in the country. The conference hasn't had six players finish with season averages of 8.0 rpg or higher since the 1999-2000 season.
On Top At The End
The America East Women's Basketball Champion has been either the one or two seed in the conference tournament 20 times in 27 years. Additionally, in 24 out of the 27 years of the tournament, the champion has been one of the top three seeds, making regular-season play crucial for championship hopes. Providing even further motivation, the highest seeded team remaining will host the America East Championship final in 2012 for the third straight year.
You've Been 'Frame'd
One of America East's highest scorers and rebounders won't show up in the league's overall stats since she hasn't played in 75 percent of her team's games yet, but she is somebody that other teams will need to plan for. New Hampshire junior Morgan Frame, a 6-foot-1 forward, was a midseason transfer last winter from St. Anselm College and was not eligible for the Wildcats until their Dec. 18 game against Rhode Island. She recorded double-doubles in each of her first two games in uniform, and scored 35 points in a win over Wagner on Dec. 21. In her 13 games with the Wildcats, Frame has become UNH's leading scorer with 16.7 ppg and second-leading rebounder with 7.6 rpg. The Wildcats are 8-5 since Frame has become eligible after going 4-4 in the first eight games without Frame.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (13-9, 7-2 AE) split two games this week in conference play... The Great Danes defeated Binghamton 37-36 on the road, before falling to Hartford 65-57 at home... Junior guard Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) averaged a team-high 14.0 ppg on the week... Henry recorded her third straight double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds at Binghamton before scoring a team-high 13 points to go along with eight boards versus Hartford... Senior guard Cassandra Callaway (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) returned from a hand injury and picked up where she left off, chipping in with 13 points, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line against Hartford... As a team, the Great Danes continue to be a force off the boards, out-rebounding both of their opponents last week... Albany grabbed 37 rebounds against Binghamton led by Henry and Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington), who pulled down ten caroms, and out-rebounded Hartford by a 31-25 margin... Albany will return to action this week on the road versus UMBC on Wednesday... The Great Danes will then host Stony Brook on Saturday in the first game of the annual Big Purple Growl winter homecoming event.
Binghamton (10-12, 4-5 AE) dropped both games last week by a combined two points. It marks the first time in their 11-year Division I history that the Bearcats have lost back-to-back games by a single point... This week, Binghamton starts a three-game homestand. Two of those games will be televised regionally by Time Warner Sports... Senior forward Viive Rebane (Talinn, Estonia/Audantes) averaged 10.5 rebounds this past week. Against Albany on Jan. 25, she had 10 points and 10 rebounds to record the 18th double-double of her career... Senior point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) now has 1,420 career points. In the process, she is now the third player in program history to reach the 1,400-point mark in scoring.
The Terriers (15-6, 8-0 AE) held off a late second half rally by UMBC to defeat the Retrievers 59-53 Wednesday afternoon in Boston U.'s only game last week... The victory extends the Terriers' winning streak to eight games, as they've completed the first half of their conference schedule with a perfect 8-0 mark and a 15-6 overall record... Senior Alex Young (Hickory, N.C./St. Stephen's) led Boston U. with 14 points and added four rebounds... Junior Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) added 13 points and also pulled down four rebounds while sophomore Rashidat Agboola (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) posted 11 points and eight rebounds... Senior Caroline Stewart (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Regional) grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to match her season-high while adding six points... The Terriers shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) for the game while UMBC converted on 25.8 percent (17-of-66) of its opportunities. Both teams pulled down 42 rebounds... Boston U. is riding its longest winning streak since the Terriers began conference play in 2010-11 with 10 wins.
Hartford (13-10, 4-5 AE) scored a pair of league victories last week, defeating Stony Brook at home 63-44 and Albany on the road 65-57 as the Hawks opened up their second trip through the conference schedule... Against the Seawolves, Ruthanne Doherty (Richmond, Va./L.C.Bird) led three players in double figures with 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting... Joining her was rookie Cherelle Moore (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) who finished with 12 points tying her career high and Daphne Elliott (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) who chipped in 11 points... Elliott would lead all players in the Hawks' win at Albany on Saturday afternoon with 17 points. The junior guard would finish the week shooting better than 50 percent overall (9-of-17) and was 6-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc... Elliott was one of four Hawks in double figures at Albany as Doherty finished with 13 points and Nikkia Smith (Montville, Conn./Montville) and Amber Bepko (Guilford, Conn./Mercy) each added 10 points... The Hawks will play a pair of games in the week ahead, first welcoming New Hampshire to West Hartford (Wednesday 7 p.m.) as the Hawks look to avenge a 19-point loss on the road against the Wildcats in the first meeting... The Hawks will then travel to Burlington for a Superbowl Sunday match-up (1 p.m.).
Maine (6-16, 3-6 AE) split its games over the past week, dropping a 66-50 decision to New Hampshire in Maine's final game inside Memorial Gymnasium this season before picking up a thrilling 48-47 win over Binghamton on Saturday... The win was Maine's first over the Bearcats since Jan. 21, 2010... The win moved Maine to 3-6 in league play, surpassing its total conference wins (2) last season and also giving it four home wins this season, one more than all of last season (3)... Samantha Baranowski (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) continues to shine as she has recorded double-figures in six-straight games after tallying a career-high 20 points against Binghamton. It was the first time this season a Black Bear had broken the 20-point barrier... The senior tri-captain is now averaging 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in conference play as she has improved her overall points per game average from 6.2 to 9.3 since league action has started. Baranowski has scored in double-figures in nine of her last 10 games and eight of her first nine league games as she sits just five points from 600 in her career... Fellow captain Brittany Williams (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) averaged 11.5 points over the week and 39.0 minutes. Williams has logged 40+ minutes four times... The Black Bears return to action Saturday, Feb. 4 when they travel for their longest conference trip of the season to take on UMBC.
UMBC (11-11, 5-4 AE) lost both of its games this week... On Wednesday, the Retrievers fell to Boston U. 59-53 in front of a record crowd at the RAC, and a national audience, as the game was aired on ESPN3... Then, on Saturday, UMBC lost at New Hampshire 75-68... Senior Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) led the Retrievers with a season-high 26 points... Three other Retrievers recorded double-doubles against the Wildcats... Senior Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 12th career double-double... Junior Kristin Coles (Charles Town, W.Va./Notre Dame Academy/American) scored 11 points and picked up a career-high 17 rebounds, for her third double-double of the season and her career... Freshman Lauren Chase (Bowie, Md./Riverdale Baptist) netted 11 points and matched a career-high with 11 assists for her second double-double... Kurowski now has 1,545 career points which ranks her 26th all-time in America East history… Against New Hampshire, Brown moved into eighth all-time in UMBC history with 1,248 career points… The Retrievers now return home for a two-game homestand, beginning on Wednesday night, when Albany comes to the RAC... UMBC then hosts Maine on Saturday, part of a doubleheader, to celebrate UMBC Hall of Fame Day.
UNH (12-9, 5-4 AE) earned a pair of wins on the week, first taking down Maine on the road 66-50 before topping UMBC at home 75-68 to avenge a loss to the Retrievers in the conference-opener... Junior Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine) paced the Wildcats past UMBC as she posted a game-high 27 points and added 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. She went 11-of-17 from the field and has now notched four games with 20-plus points this season. Sophomore Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H.) registered 15 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe and added three assists. Senior Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and four assists... Beliveau led the way against Maine as she matched a season-high 24 points, including a stretch of 13 straight in the second half, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range. She netted 18 points in the second stanza and hit all five of her free throws during the contest. Sophomore Kelsey Hogan (Nashua, N.H.) posted 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, adding three steals and three assists. Junior Cari Reed (Oswego, N.Y.) chipped in with nine points and six rebounds, while freshman Ariel Gaston (Toledo, Ohio) registered a game-high five assists ... The Wildcats will look for the season sweep of Hartford when they visit the Hawks on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
The Seawolves (4-18, 1-8 AE) dropped conference games to Hartford and Vermont last week... Stony Brook shot 42 percent from the field at Hartford... Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) led the Seawolves with 12 points... Senior Destiny Jacobs (Glen Burnie, Md.) added nine points and five rebounds for the Seawolves, who out-scored Hartford 24-18 in the paint... SBU trailed by just three with seven minutes left in the first half but Hartford ended the period on a 16-4 run... SBU held Vermont to 33.9 percent shooting but were out-rebounded 52-28... Junior Sam Landers (Springfield, Va.) led SBU with 12 points... Stony Brook returns to action this week with two games on the road, first against Binghamton on Wednesday and then against Albany on Saturday.
Vermont (9-13, 3-6 AE) avenged a loss to Stony Brook, cruising to a 63-36 win at Pritchard Gym in the lone game of the week for the Catamounts... The freshman trio of Niki Taylor (York, Maine/York), Kayla Burchill (Portland, Maine/Deering) and Tierra Shumpert (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch) combined for 43 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Catamounts... Taylor scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds (eight offensive), Burchilll posted her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Shumpert lead all scorers with 17 points... Junior Shanai Heber (Paterson, N.J./Paterson-Kennedy) chipped in 12 rebounds... UVM travels to Boston U. on Wednesday (Feb. 1) and hosts Hartford on Sunday (Feb. 5).