BOSTON, Mass. - The America East women's basketball regular season is over and eight teams will head to Binghamton for the 2015 tournament beginning March 7 with the quarterfinals. New Hampshire stopped Maine's 14-game winning streak and Albany earned a share of the regular-season title to split the season's final awards:
Co-Player of the Week
Elizabeth Belanger, New Hampshire, Jr., G, Acton, Mass.
- Led New Hampshire to a win over first-place Maine, stopping the Black Bears' 14-game winning streak.
- Scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, pacing an offense that eclipsed that became the first America East team to break the 60-point barrier against the Black Bears.
- Also added four rebounds.
- Has scored in double figures in seve of the last eight games.
Co-Player of the Week
Imani Tate, Albany, So., G, Bronx, N.Y.
- Led the conference in scoring last week, averaging 22.0 points per game in a 2-0 week for the Great Danes.
- Helped Albany grab a share of its third-straight America East regular-seasons title.
- Shot 51.6 percent from the floor while also averaged 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
- Had 17 points, four rebounds and three assists in a win over Hartford to start the week.
- Posted 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds and three steals in a win over Vermont to close the regular season.
Rookie of the Week
Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire, Fr., C, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Had a monster game in New Hampshire's win over first-place Maine, scoring 20 points to go with 10 rebounds.
- Helped UNH stop Maine's 14-game winning streak and become the first team since North Carolina on Dec. 19 to eclpse the 60-point mark against the Black BEars.
- Was 8-of-13 from the floor in 22 minutes.
Notes
- For just the third time in conference history and the first time since 1987-88, the America East has co-regular season champions as Maine and Albany tied with identical 14-2 league records.
- Maine's regular-season title is the team's first since 2004-05 and 13th overall.
- Albany regular-season title is the team's third-straight, the sixth team in America East history to win three-straight regular-season crowns.
- Maine will be the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2004-05.
- New Hampshire became the first team since North Carolina on Dec. 19 to score more than 60 points against the Black Bears, a streak of 17-straight games.
- The America East quarterfinals and semifinals will be hosted by Binghamton March 7-8. The championship game will head to the highest remaining seed March 13.
- On March 7, No. 1 Maine will face No. 8 Binghamton at noon; No. 4 New Hampshire will face No. 5 Hartford at 2:15 p.m.; No. 2 Albany will play No. 7 Vermont at 6 p.m.; No. 3 Stony Brook will play No. 6 UMBC at 8:15 p.m.
- Stony Brook, which ended Albany's 38-game conference winning streak last year, also ended the Great Danes' 30-game conference road winning streak with a 68-64 victory on Feb. 22.
- UMBC's win over Hartford was the first for the Retrievers over the Hawks since Jan. 16, 2012.
- Maine's 22 wins are the most for the program since winning 25 in 2003-04.
- UMBC's Phil Stern became the program's all-time winningest coach with a win over Vermont on Feb. 14.
- 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.
- 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 5th-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
Feb. 23 - Player of the Week: Sabre Proctor, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire
March 2 - Co-Players of the Week: Imani Tate, Albany & Elizabeth Belanger, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Carlie Pogue, New Hampshire