2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Basketball: Wildcats prepare for america east tournament
Joe O'Connell
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Sports
This Friday the UNH women's basketball team opens up the Women's America East Conference tournament when they take on Vermont at 12 p.m. at Chase Family Arena on the campus of the University of Hartford.
UNH will be the seventh seed in the tournament after finishing the season 7-21 overall and 4-12 in the conference. Vermont is the number two seed after compiling an overall record of 22-7 and 13-3 in conference play.
This is a favorable spot for the Wildcats, despite the low seeding. They were able to avoid the dreaded Thursday "play in" game, which was bestowed on eighth seeded Maine and ninth seeded Stony Brook, respectively. The winner of that game will take on top seeded Hartford.
Vermont was a team that UNH played very well this season. Although the Catamounts took the swept the season series two games to none, they managed to beat the Wildcats by just eight (72-64) in the first game on January 3 in Burlington and by seven (61-54) in the second contest at Lundholm Gym on February 19.
In both those games, UNH shot well over their 35 percent season average for field goal percentage. They turned in a 47 percent clip in the first game, and a 40 percent clip in the second contest.
In both games UNH also showed up with their defense, allowing the Catamounts to shoot an 37 percent from the floor in both games. They were also able to keep Vermont's top player and the leading candidate for conference player of the year Courtnay Pilypaitis under control. The conference leading scorer (17 ppg) and number four in rebounding (7.0) scored 19 points in each game, but they were hard earned.
To go far in this tournament, the Wildcats will need top performances from every member of the team, from their top players all the way down to the end of the bench. Especially on the offensive side, as they have been struggling as of late and will be without a 100 percent Ashley Cerniglia, the team's leading scorer, who is still nursing a torn labrum.
UNH also has some big shoes as the seventh seed in the tournament. Last year's number seven, UMBC, made a Cinderella run through the tournament, upsetting the top three seeds to win the school's first tournament title.
UNH will be the seventh seed in the tournament after finishing the season 7-21 overall and 4-12 in the conference. Vermont is the number two seed after compiling an overall record of 22-7 and 13-3 in conference play.
This is a favorable spot for the Wildcats, despite the low seeding. They were able to avoid the dreaded Thursday "play in" game, which was bestowed on eighth seeded Maine and ninth seeded Stony Brook, respectively. The winner of that game will take on top seeded Hartford.
Vermont was a team that UNH played very well this season. Although the Catamounts took the swept the season series two games to none, they managed to beat the Wildcats by just eight (72-64) in the first game on January 3 in Burlington and by seven (61-54) in the second contest at Lundholm Gym on February 19.
In both those games, UNH shot well over their 35 percent season average for field goal percentage. They turned in a 47 percent clip in the first game, and a 40 percent clip in the second contest.
In both games UNH also showed up with their defense, allowing the Catamounts to shoot an 37 percent from the floor in both games. They were also able to keep Vermont's top player and the leading candidate for conference player of the year Courtnay Pilypaitis under control. The conference leading scorer (17 ppg) and number four in rebounding (7.0) scored 19 points in each game, but they were hard earned.
To go far in this tournament, the Wildcats will need top performances from every member of the team, from their top players all the way down to the end of the bench. Especially on the offensive side, as they have been struggling as of late and will be without a 100 percent Ashley Cerniglia, the team's leading scorer, who is still nursing a torn labrum.
UNH also has some big shoes as the seventh seed in the tournament. Last year's number seven, UMBC, made a Cinderella run through the tournament, upsetting the top three seeds to win the school's first tournament title.
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