CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Boston U. sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) and Albany freshman center Megan Craig (Whangerai, New Zealand/Kamo) capped off the regular season with career-best performances and lead their squads into the 2012 America East Basketball Championship as the teams to beat. Agboola and Craig are recipients of their first career Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week awards, respectively.
Agboola earns her first career Player of the Week award after leading the Terriers to two wins as well as the 2012 America East Regular Season Championship. Agboola averaged 18.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from the field. She added 1.0 steals and 1.0 assists per contest for the week.
Agboola set a career high with 24 points and added 11 rebounds in Wednesday night's win over UMBC. The sophomore also finished with three blocks, an assist and a steal, and shot 10-of-16 on the night. Agboola finished second on the team with 12 points on Sunday in a regular-season title-clinching win at Hartford. She also collected eight rebounds, an assist and a steal and completed a 5-of-10 shooting effort.
Agboola leads top-seeded Boston U. with 8.6 rebounds per game and is third on the team with 10.2 points per game this season. She is second in America East with 1.2 blocks per game and 47.2 percent field-goal shooting.
Craig is the final 2011-12 Rookie of the Week award winner after she set a new career high in scoring in Albany's regular-season finale win against Binghamton on Wednesday night.
In just 19 minutes, Craig scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-11 field-goal shooting. She also hit her only free-throw attempt of the evening. Craig rounded out her performance with four rebounds, two blocks and an assist to lead Albany to its 20th win of the season.
Craig, the tallest player in the league at 6-foot-8, has played in 24 games this season and is averaging 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. She is second on the team with 20 blocks.
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 16th out of 33 conferences. Boston U. (67), Albany (85) and Hartford (91) all remain in the top-100. The RPIratings.com rankings are the most similar rankings to the ones the NCAA uses for tournament selections and seedings.
Conference Rankings America East Teams
1. Big 12 67. Boston U. (22-7)
2. Big East 85. Albany (20-9)
3. SEC 91. Hartford (19-11)
4. Pac- 12 151. UMBC (15-14)
5. Big Ten 185. New Hampshire (16-12)
6. ACC 231. Binghamton (12-17)
7. Colonial 274. Vermont (10-19)
8. West Coast 318. Maine (7-22)
9. Atlantic 10 319. Stony Brook (4-25)
10. Missouri Valley
11. Conference USA
12. Mid-American
13. Horizon
14. Southern
15. Northeast
16. America East
Terriers on Top
It came down to the last day of the regular season, but the Boston University Terriers captured the 2012 America East Regular Season crown with a 15-1 record after their 57-52 win at Hartford on Saturday evening. It is Boston U.'s third regular-season title after winning a share of it in 1987-88 and capturing it outright in 2008-09. The regular-season champion is guaranteed a postseason berth as the conference's representative in the Postseason WNIT should it not earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers will also enter this week's America East Championship as the top seed based on their regular-season finish, and will host the America East Championship final on March 10 should they advance past the semifinals.
Danes Are Dandy
The second-seeded Albany Great Danes roll into this week's tournament as the hottest team in the league. Winners of seven in a row, Albany has the longest active win streak in the conference and is the only team to have handed top-seeded Boston U. a loss during the regular season. The Great Danes' 20 wins are the most in the program's Division I history and their two seed is their best position ever for an America East Championship.
March Madness Is Here
The 2012 America East Men's and Women's Basketball Championship presented by Newman's Own gets underway at Hartford's Chase Family Arena this Thursday, March 1 when No. 8 Maine and No. 9 Stony Brook meet in the first round game at 6:05 p.m. The winner will meet No. 1 Boston U. in the first quarterfinal on Friday, March 2 at 12:05 p.m., while No. 4 New Hampshire and No. 5 UMBC square-off at 2:15 p.m. No. 2 Albany and No. 7 Vermont will kick-off the evening session at 6:05 p.m., while No. 3 Hartford, the host school, and No. 6 Binghamton meet at 8:15 p.m. The winners of the first two quarterfinals will compete in the first semifinal matchup on Sunday, March 4 at 11:02 a.m. followed by the remaining two teams at 1:15 p.m.
Headin' Home for the Final
For the third straight year, the America East Championship Title Game will be played the weekend following the semifinals and head to the home court of the highest remaining seed. This year's final will be held on Sat., March 10 at 8 p.m.
On Top At The End
In 20 of the 27 year-history of the America East Women's Basketball Championship, the one or two seed has been crowned conference champion. The champion has also been one of the top three seeds in 24 years of the tournament, 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.
High-Def And All-Access
The first round and quarterfinal round action of the 2012 America East Basketball Championship will be available live and for free at the America East All-Access video portal on AmericaEast.com and for the first time will stream in high-definition. America East has partnered with Pack Network to bring all the live video action online as well as to iPhones at http://www.packnetwork.com/aeiphone/.
Lights, Camera, Action!
As part of America East's national broadcast package with ESPN, both semifinal games and the championship final will air live on ESPN3. The championship game will also be televised on ESPN Regional Television throughout the conference's footprint.
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)
March 10 America East Championship (ESPN3)
Rizzotti's Milestone
With a win over New Hampshire on Feb. 1, Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti picked up her 250th career coaching victory. All of her wins have come during her 12-plus years at Hartford. Rizzotti is the longest actively tenured head coach in the league and holds the America East all-time record for most overall coaching wins. Northeastern's Joy Malchodi is second with 217 wins over 16 seasons (1984-2000).
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 34-38 (.472) during conference play, virtually eliminating that home court advantage. Each of the nine teams have at least one win on the road, while the top two teams in the league standings, Boston U. and Albany, went a combined 16-0 on the road.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (20-9, 14-2 AE) won its 20th game of the season with a 69-37 drubbing of Binghamton at home on Wednesday... It is the first time in Division I history, and the first time since the 1991-92 season, that Albany has won 20 or more games... Freshman Megan Craig (Whangarei, New Zealand/Kamo) scored a game- and career-high 19 points, going 9-of-11 from the floor and hitting her only free throw attempt... Junior Ebone Henry (San Diego, Calif./Mater Dei Catholic) added 12 points and seven rebounds, while also handing out five assists and recording two steals... Senior Cassandra Callaway (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) also reached double-digit scoring figures, netting 10 points to go along with three assists and two steals... Junior Julie Forster (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) continues to lead the team off the boards, as she grabbed 11 caroms against the Bearcats... Forster's effort led the Great Danes to out-rebound Binghamton 43-26 in the game... Albany will enter the America East Conference Tournament as the #2 seed, the program's highest-ever seeding.
Binghamton (12-17, 6-10 AE) will take the No. 6 seed into the America East Tournament. It is the Bearcats' lowest seed since entering with a No. 7 seed in 2003... The Bearcats have advanced to the America East semifinals in four of the last six seasons. Binghamton is 0-2 all time in America East Tournament games against Hartford, having lost in the 2006 and 2007 semifinals... In five previous America East Tournament games, senior forward Viive Rebane (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentes School) has averaged 12.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. She has recorded a pair of double-doubles in the process. Senior point guard Andrea Holmes (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) missed last season's America East Tournament with an injury but in three previous games, she has averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. In her most recent America East Tournament game, Holmes poured in a game-high 22 points against Stony Brook in a 2010 quarterfinal-round game.
Boston U. (22-7, 15-1 AE) won its first America East regular season championship since 2008-09 with a 57-52 victory at Hartford on Saturday... The Terriers finish the regular season with their best mark since going 22-6 in the 2008-09 regular season... Sophomore forward Rashidat Agboola (Methuen, Mass./Methuen) led the Terriers to 61-56 win over UMBC on Wednesday with career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds for her team-leading eighth double-double of the season... Senior Caroline Stewart (Topsfield, Mass./Masaconomet Regional) added 13 points and nine boards while junior Chantell Alford (West Haven, Conn./Wilbur Cross) tallied 10 points and three steals. Fellow junior Mo Moran (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) dished out a team-high 10 assists to go with nine points.... Against Hartford, Moran led all players with a season-high 20 points and reached the 1,000-point mark for her career in the second half. She became the 21st played in school history to reach 1,000 points and the third Terrier to do so this season... Agboola added 12 points and eight rebounds at Hartford.
Hartford (19-11, 10-6 AE) closed out the regular season with a 1-1 record in the final week of play... The Hawks opened the week with a 49-42 win over the Stony Brook Seawolves in the final road contest of the season... In that game, junior guard Alex Hall (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Acad.) led all players with 19 points, one of three Hawks to finish in double figures as Nikkia Smith (Montville, Conn./Montville) added 16 points and Ruthanne Doherty (Richmond, Va./Richmond) finished with 11... The regular season finale put a lot on the line for the Boston U. Terriers and they answered by stopping the Hawks' win streak at eight games with a 57-52 win on Senior Day in West Hartford... Doherty led the Hawks with 18 points, now eight straight games the Hawks' post player has finished in double figures... She was joined in double figures by Hall who added 13 points... For the week, Hall led all Hawks with an average of 14.5 points over the two games while shooting 58 percent (11-of-19) overall and an even more impressive 70 percent from beyond the three-point arc at 7-of-10... The Hawks will enter the upcoming America East Championship presented by Newman's Own as the No. 3 seed and will face the No. 6 Binghamton Bearcats in the quarterfinals on Friday at 8:15 p.m. at the Chase Family Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion.
Maine (7-22, 4-12 AE) split a pair of games on the week, losing at New Hampshire 65-53 before defeating Stony Brook in the final regular season contest 45-40 on Senior Day for Maine... The Black Bears were 0-22 coming into the game against Stony Brook when trailing with five minutes to play. However, down by five with 5:00 to play, Maine made a run and ended up defeating the Seawolves for its first come from behind victory of the year when trailing with five minutes to play... Brittany Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) paced Maine's offense over the past week as she currently has a two game double figure scoring streak with 13 at New Hampshire and 12 vs Stony Brook... The win over Stony Brook marked the first time Maine had swept Stony Brook since doing so during the 2004-05 season. Maine defeated Stony Brook at home 88-60 on Jan. 30, 2005 before beating the Seawolves in Stony Brook 76-59 on March 2 that season... The Black Bears will play their second game in a row against Stony Brook when the two teams face off for the second year in a row in the opening round of the America East Tournament on Thursday night. Maine will be looking for its first win in the tournament since defeating Albany 73-56 on March 9, 2006.
UMBC (15-14, 9-7 AE) split its final two games of the regular season this week… In their midweek game at Boston U., the Retrievers lost 61-56… Freshman Lauren Chase (Bowie, Md./Riverdale Baptist) led UMBC with 14 points, while junior Kristin Coles (Charles Town, W.Va./Notre Dame Academy/American) recorded her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing ten rebounds… On Sunday’s Senior Day, UMBC defeated Vermont 72-60… Senior Michelle Kurowski (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville) scored a game-high 21 points, leading four Retrievers in double figures… Coles recorded a second straight double-double, her fifth of the year, with 19 points and 14 rebounds… Senior Erin Brown (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Chase were also in double digits, each scoring 11 points… Brown is second in the America East in scoring (14.4 ppg) while Kurowski is fifth (13.2 ppg)… Chase continues to lead the league in assists (4.6 apg), while Coles is fourth in field goal percentage (.459)… Brown averages the most minutes on the court this year, playing 37.1 minutes per game… The Retrievers now head to Hartford, Conn. to play in the 2012 America East Basketball Championship which begins on March 1… UMBC is seeded fifth and takes on the four seed, New Hampshire on Fri. March 2 with tip-off set for 2:15 p.m.
UNH (16-12, 9-7 AE) downed both Maine 65-53 and Binghamton 59-52 in the final week of play to end the season on a three-game winning streak... The Wildcats finished with their first winning season since the 2005-06 campaign, earning the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament... Senior Denise Beliveau (Framingham, Mass.) led the Wildcats past rival Maine in the home finale with a game-high 16 points. Junior Morgan Frame (Waterville, Maine) finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four steals, while senior Kelley Flynn (Hopkinton, N.H.) added a season-high 11 points. Junior Cari Reed (Oswego, N.Y.) rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers with 10 points, including three three-pointers... UNH closed out the regular season with an overtime victory over the Bearcats, paced by Beliveau's 14-point, 12-rebound effort for her league-leading 10th double-double of the season... UNH ended regulation with a 13-3 run to force overtime and kicked off the extra frame with seven unanswered points. Frame recorded a team-high 15 points, while senior Abigail LaRosa (Hampton, N.H.) posted a season-high 12 points on four three-pointers and four assists. The fourth-seeded Wildcats will play on Friday, March 2 at 2:15 p.m. when they take on No. 5 UMBC in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
The Seawolves (4-25, 1-15 AE) dropped their final two games of the regular season, falling at home to Hartford and on the road to Maine... Stony Brook went on a 14-2 run midway through the second half to take a 39-32 lead with 7:30 left... Senior Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.J.) finished with eight points, seven rebounds and five assists... Stony Brook held Maine to 29 percent shooting... The Sewolves honored their four seniors - Murray, Destiny Jacobs (Glen Burnie, Md.), Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) and Misha Horsey (Wyncote, Pa.) - prior to Wednesday's game against Hartford... The Seawolves trailed 44-35 with 3:27 left but then scored seven straight points, cutting the Hartford lead to two on lay-up from junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 35 seconds left... Davis led the Seawolves with 12 points against the Hawks... Stony Brook will face Maine in the opening round of the 2012 America East Tournament for the second straight season.
Vermont (10-19, 4-12 AE) wrapped up the regular season with a 72-60 loss at UMBC... Freshman Niki Taylor (York, Maine/York) led the Catamounts with a team-high 15 points and added six rebounds... Classmate Tierra Shumpert added 12 points and five assists and fellow freshmen Annie Wheeler (Suwanne, Ga./North Gwinnett) came off the bench to contribute a career-high 11 points and four rebounds... Vermont enters the America East Tournament as the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 Albany on Friday (March 2) at 6:05 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the America East Tournament at Hartford... The Catamounts maintained their streak of never having played in the 8/9 play-in game in the tournament.