BOSTON, Mass. - The America East women's basketball seasons heads down the final stretch and both Albany and Maine have one conference loss in a battle for the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the America East Championship. The Great Danes had a pair of wins this week as Shereesha Richards grabbed her fifth Player of the Week honor. Binghamton's Jasmine Sina continued her torrid scoring pace as a freshman and grabbed her fifth Rookie of the Week award. Here are the week 13 winners:
Player of the Week
Shereesha Richards, Albany, Jr., F, Rae Town, Jamaica
- Averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals while shooting 68 percent from the floor in a 2-0 week for the Great Danes.
- Notched her ninth double-double of the year and 24th of her career, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while also notching three steals in a win over UNH.
- Ranked fourth in scoring, third in rebounding and fourth in field goal percentage last week.
- Posted her 5th 30-point game of the year with 31 against UMass Lowell, hitting 13-of-19 from the floor. Also pulled down seven boards.
- Richards’ 14 Player of the Week honors in her career rank her second all-time, two behind Maine’s Cindy Blodgett for the conference record.Rookie of the Week
Rookie of the Week
Jasmine Sina, Binghamton, Fr., G, Lake Hoptacong, N.J.
- Averaged 18.0 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from 3-point range and 40 percent from the floor.
- Scored 14 points and dished out five assists while hitting a trio of 3-pointers vs. Hartford
- Registered 22 points, hitting 5-of-9 from downtown, to go with three rebounds at Vermont.
- Led all freshmen in scoring for the second-straight week.
- Earned her fifth Rookie of the Week award.
Notes
- Albany's Shereesha Richards has four 30-plus point scoring games this year including three in the last five games.
- Maine has held 12-straight opponents to less than 60 points and lead the conference in scoring defense at 53.5 points per game.
- 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.
- Maine's Liz Wood became the 18th player in Maine history to reach the 1,000 point plateau vs. Hartford Sunday.
- 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 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.
- Maine's victory at home over Hartford was its first on its home turf since 2004.
- Hartford head coach Jennifer Rizzotti earned her 300th career win on Thursday, Jan. 29 vs. Stony Brook.
- Vermont snapped a 12-game skid and won its first conference game of the year vs. Binghamton.
- 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' 14 career Player of the Week honors place her second all-time, two 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