BOSTON, Mass. - With just four games remaining in the regular-season, Albany and Maine are tied atop the America East women's basketball conference standings with identical 11-1 records in a race for the regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Another monster game offensively for Shereesha Richards gave her the 15th Player of the Week honor of her career while Tiana-Jo Carter earned her first Rookie of the Week award as Albany swept the weekly honors. Here are the week 14 winners:
Player of the Week
Shereesha Richards, Albany, Jr., F, Rae Town, Jamaica
- Led the conference in scoring and field goal percentage last week, at 35.0 points per game while shooting 66.7 percent from the floor.
- Scored 35 points in 23 minutes in a win over Binghamton while hitting on 14-of-21 field goal attempts.
- Averaged 1.5 points per minute in the game while also grabbing three rebounds.
- Posted her sixth 30-point game of the year.
- Richards’ 15 Player of the Week honors in her career rank her second all-time, one behind Maine’s Cindy Blodgett for the conference record.
Rookie of the Week
Tiana Jo-Carter, Albany, Fr., F, Naples, Maine
- Averaged 12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game last week.
- Scored 12 points, a conference season-high for her, in a win over Binghamton while also grabbing five rebounds.
- Registered a career-high three blocks in the win.
Notes
- With four games remaining in the conference season, Albany and Maine are tied for first with identical 11-1 records.
- Maine has held 14-straight opponents to fewer than 60 points and 7 of the last 8 to fewer than 50. They lead the conference in scoring defense at 53.0 points per game.
- Maine has won 11-straight games, the team's longest streak since winning 13-straight in 2004-05.
- UMBC's Phil Stern became the program's all-time winningest coach with a win over Vermont on Saturday.
- UNH snapped a five-game losing streak with a, 76-58, win over Binghamton. Elizabeth Belanger had 25 points in the contest.
- Albany's Shereesha Richards has four 30-plus point scoring games this year including four in the last six games.
- UMBC's Taylor McCarley set the Retriever program record with 17 free throws vs. UNH, tying her for third most in a single game in America East history.
- Albany had won 30-straight conference road games and has 12 road wins overall this season, the most in the NCAA.
- The crowd of 3,287 fans against Hartford was the largest crowd ever at Cross Insurance Center for a Black Bears' basketball game and UMaine's biggest crowd since 3,717 took in action against Duke at Alfond Arena on Dec. 21, 2009.
- Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti earned her 300th career win on Thursday, Jan. 29 vs. Stony Brook.
- Maine's 31-point win over UNH was the largest margin of victory since defeating Kennesaw State by 32 on 11/25/05.
- Albany's Shereesha Richards (39 points) and Imani Tate (30 points) combined for 69 points vs. Hartford, the most by teammates in a single game in America East history.
- Maine’s Liz Wood became the first Black Bear player to score 30 points since Ashley Underwood on 2/7/2007.
- New Hampshire beat Hartford for the 4th-straight time, the longest streak since beating the Hawks 8-straight games form ‘91-’95.
- Shereesha Richards' 15 career Player of the Week honors place her second all-time, one behind Maine great Cindy Blodgett who is first with 16.
- Liz Wood's triple-double is the 1st in regulation of an AE conference since UVM’s Courtnay Pilypaitis on 2/13/08.
- Carlie Pogue's 17 rebounds were the most for an America East freshman since Binghamton's Jasbriell Swain on 2/2/11.
- The America East has three wins vs. Power 5 Conferences - 2 vs. Big Ten (Albany and Hartford def. Penn State) and one vs. ACC (Maine def. Boston College). It is the first time since 2009-10 the America East has three wins over Power 5 teams.
Weekly Awards
Nov. 17 - Player of the Week: Shereesha Richards, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Imani Watkins, Binghamton
Nov. 24 - Player of the Week: Elizabeth Belanger, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Imani Watkins, Binghamton
Dec. 1 - Co-Players of the Week: Liz Wood, Maine & Imani Tate, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Jasmine Sina, Binghamton
Dec. 8 - Player of the Week: Liz Wood, Maine; Rookie of the Week: Sydney Smith, Vermont
Dec. 15 - Player of the Week: Shannon Samuels, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Sydney Smith, Vermont
Dec. 22 - Player of the Week: Kori Bayne-Walker, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Imani Watkins, Binghamton
Dec. 29 - Player of the Week: Taylor McCarley, UMBC; Rookie of the Week: Jasmine Sina, Binghamton
Jan. 5 - Player of the Week: Shereesha Richards, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Jasmine Sina, Binghamton
Jan. 12 - Player of the Week: Shereesha Richards, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire
Jan. 19 - Player of the Week: Liz Wood, Maine; Rookie of the Week: Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire
Jan. 26 - Player of the Week: Shereesha Richards, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire
Feb. 2 - Player of the Week: Sigi Koizar, Maine; Rookie of the Week: Jasmine Sina, Binghamton
Feb. 9 - Player of the Week: Shereesha Richards, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Jasmine Sina, Binghamton
Feb. 16 - Player of the Week: Shereesha Richards, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Tiana-Jo Carter, Albany