Hitting the Links: 12/10/2010

Over the course of the week, America East has been the conference of focus for fellow blogger Andy Pawlowski and his "Digital Hoops Blast" blog. On his blog, Andy looks at college basketball conferences from across the country to compliment, critique and display how they use technology to spread their word.

Blogger Andy Pawlowski took a look at the America East.

As part of his America East review, Andy checked out the new-look of AmericaEast.com as well as its paths that lead you here to AExtra. He also took a closer look at the blog, noting the use of campus correspondents and direct feeds from and links to America East's Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages.

Over the course of his America East week, Pawlowski also took a look at the web practices of Boston U., Binghamton and New Hampshire.

From Boston U., the Blast featured head men's basketball coach Pat Chambers and his blog, "Coach Chambers." Pawlowski seemed to be particularly fond of the use of journal entries from some of the Terrier players. 

From Binghamton, the Blast featured bubearcats.com and its weekly feature, "Making an Impact," which puts the spotlight on Binghamton student-athletes and their contributions to the community away from the field of play.

From New Hampshire, the Blast took a look at how the Wildcats reach their fans on gameday through multimedia. New Hampshire has a dedicated "Multimedia" tab on the front page of unhwildcats.com that leads you to live game stats, audio and video.

And that is just a sampling from the nine member universities. Go take a look at each university and you'll see that America East athletic departments are really getting out and about and making use of social media and technology.

UMBC Men's Soccer Continues to Receive Accolades

It should come as no surprise that after the historic 2010-11 season they put together, both senior forward Levi Houapeu and junior midfielder/forward Andrew Bulls from the UMBC men's soccer team have received regional and national recognition.

Houapeu played an integral role in helping UMBC win its first America East championship, and his efforts saw him named to the 2010 College Soccer News' Third Team All-America and the Goal.com Second-Team All-America squads. With this honor, Houapeu became the third player in UMBC history to be  named to the College Soccer News' All-America team.

UNH drops first home game of year to Army

The UNH men's basketball team could not overcome a second half deficit on Thursday night, falling to Army, 71-63, in their last home game before winter break. The Wildcats' usually staunch defense gave up the most points they have allowed all season.

"I'm just disappointed with our effort and our performance," UNH head coach Bill Herrion said. "Just not a good night for us."

Despite the poor play, UNH still had a chance to win the game in the closing minutes. Down 62-50 with 5:35 left in the game, the Wildcats went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to three with 26 seconds left in the game.

La Salle Head Coach Returns to America East

When he leads his team into Agganis Arena to face Boston University, La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini will be taking a walk down memory lane. It was at the University of Maine that Coach Giannini earned his first Division I job, and over the course of his time in Orono, he became the Black Bears' all-time leader in wins. With the Explorers in town to face the Terriers, AExtra was able to catch up with Coach Giannini to discuss the impact his time in the America East had on his coaching career as well as the excellent job Pat Chambers is doing at Boston University.

Partin Continues to Grow More Comfortable at Boston U.

Despite losing nine seniors to graduation, the Boston University men's team was selected to win the America East in the preseason coaches' poll. One of the main reasons for this selection was the fact that the Terriers had three transfers who were set to become eligible at the start of the season. While expectations were high surrounding Patrick Hazel (Marquette), Matt Griffin (Rider) and Darryl Partin (La Salle), it should come as no surprise that it has taken all three a little bit of time to shake off the rust after sitting out last season.

One guy who has clearly started to find his rhythm is junior guard Darryl Partin. After struggling to find consistency on the offensive end early in the season, Partin put his full potential on display when he scored 32 points and grabbed six rebounds in a win over Cornell. AExtra caught up with Partin to discuss his growing comfort level with the system at Boston U. and to also discuss the upcoming matchup with La Salle. This game has a little extra meaning for Partin, as he began his career at La Salle prior to transferring to Boston University.

Duke Connections To Coach Abe

A look inside Cameron Indoor Stadium taken last March

The Albany (6-2) women continue the toughest portion of their non-conference slate with a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight to face the Duke Blue Devils at 7p. Duke is ranked #5 and #4 in the national polls, and is coached by Joanne P. McCallie. McCallie, as has been well-documented, used to be the head coach at University of Maine for eight seasons from 1992-2000, leading the Black Bears to four straight America East titles. Last March, America East took the trip to the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium and Coach K Court with the Hartford women's team, who played a first-round NCAA game in the Duke regional. The newest connection between McCallie and America East is Albany's Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. The first-year Great Dane head coach previously served as an assistant under Coach McCallie at both Maine and Michigan State. As AExtra wrote about earlier this week, Coach Abe has had some great success so far in her first year at the helm of the Albany program. Only time will tell if Coach Abe will have a similar impact at Albany and in the America East as Coach McCallie did at Maine, however she is off to a great start.

While we wait to find out, here's a clip exclusive to AExtra with Coach McCallie talking about her America East experiences and how excited she is to welcome Coach Abe to Cameron. Enjoy!

UMBC November Top Plays and Athlete of the Month

Here are the top plays from the month of November from UMBC Athletics. Also, freshman Johan Rohtla of the men’s swimming and diving team was named UMBC Athlete of the Month for November 2010 in a poll of fans conducted from Dec. 1-7. Rohtla received 635 of 1,264 total votes (50.2 percent) to outdistance himself from runner-up Tara Morrissette of women’s swimming (453 votes, 35.8 percent). Chris De La Rosa of men’s basketball, Levi Houapeu of men’s soccer, Sabrina Hoeks of volleyball and Michelle Kurowski of women’s basketball were also nominated.

Hitting the Links: 12/8/2010

Happy Wednesday, AExtra fans.

Now that we are into the middle of December, we have reached the height of basketball's non-conference break. Gone are the Thanksgiving weekend tournaments while the winter break and conference slate loom in the very near future. With that, AExtra and the Links are getting to know the 2010-11 editions of America East's squads. This is fitting, especially seeing that getting to know people and learning new things is an essential part of the college experience.

So, who have we, and the media covering America East teams, met recently?

How about UMBC's Travis King?

King, a guard for the Retrievers who transferred to UMBC before this season to pursue a master's degree in sociology, was recently profiled by the New Haven Register. As a high school junior, King was ineligible to play for his Hyde Leadership School team because of academic trouble. However, eight years and a lot of hard work later, King is poised to earn his master's degree by the end of next summer.

Oh yeah...he leads the Retrievers in scoring, too, averaging 14.8 ppg.

Who else have we met? The real Logan Aronhalt.

Aronhalt may have played for the Albany Great Danes as a redshirt freshman last season, but he wasn't himself. He was coming off of a serious injury to his foot that required multiple surgeries and more than a year of rehab. To say he was off his game would be an understatement. Now we can see what his game truly is as he leads the Great Danes and is second in America East in scoring with 18.8 ppg. You can read more about the real Logan Aronhalt in an article from the Albany Times Union.

Here are a few other things we are learning as we head towards 2011...

• The Binghamton women's basketball team knows how to win at home. The Bearcats are now 3-0 at the Events Center after beating Siena, 72-59, on Tuesday night.
• Stony Brook freshman guard Dave Coley can get to the rim, which is exactly what he did as he scored the winning basket with 1.2 seconds left in the Seawolves' 54-53 win on the road at Holy Cross.
• The New Hampshire men can play some ball. The Wildcats are 5-2, their best start since the mid-'90s, after beating Colgate, 65-60, on Sunday.
• And...spring is right around the corner (though the temperatures in the Northeast beg to differ), evidenced by the America East lacrosse preseason poll published by Inside Lacrosse.

And we're only just about halfway through the school year! There's still plenty more to learn!

Bearcat Women Move Back To .500

The Binghamton University women's basketball team (4-4) secured its fourth win of the season with a 72-59 win over Siena at the Events Center last night. Leading by just 2 points in a back-and-forth affair at the break, the Bearcats really stepped on the pedal, improving their shooting to over 50% in the second half, and pull away for the double-digit win. The junior inside-out combo of forward Viive Rebane and guard Andrea Holmes contributed a combined 41 points and 16 rebounds.

One of the nice stories coming out of this game was how Jackie Ward, the senior guard returning from an ankle injury, looked in her 12 minutes. Coach Scholl is easing the veteran in back from the injury, but Ward did shoot 1-for-3 with an assist and a steal in her limited time, including a big trey which helped the Bearcats when the game was still close.

Below are highlights of the victory over the Saints.

Vermont Prepares For Rare Opportunity Against No. 18 BYU

While AExtra was in Burlington, Vt., this past weekend, it couldn't help but think about the upcoming matchup between the Catamounts and the No. 18 BYU Cougars. This game gives the Catamounts, who are off to their best start since the 1956-57 season, a chance to play on national television against a ranked opponent. While this game may be billed as a "neutral" game, UVM will be playing in the hometown of BYU senior guard Jimmer Fredette. Fredette is one of the elite guards in the country, as evidenced by the fact he is averaging 22.3 points and 4.1 assists per game. However, the Catamounts have already faced Connecticut guard Kemba Walker, so this team knows what it will take to try and slow down Fredette and leave Glens Falls, N.Y. with a big win. AExtra was able to catch up with Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan to discuss this game and how it will go a long way to help prepare his team for the rigors of America East play.

UMBC defeats cross-town rival Towson for third consecutive win

The UMBC women's basketball team (4-5) won its third straight game, defeating cross-town rival Towson by a score of 56-48 Tuesday evening at the RAC Arena. UMBC's three juniors -- guard Michelle Kurowski, forward Erin Brown and center Topé Obajolu -- combined for all but eight of the Retrievers' points in the game. Here are highlights and post-game comments.

Stony Brook 'Grinds' Out Win at Holy Cross

Coming into Tuesday's contest at Holy Cross, Stony Brook's men's basketball team was in much need of a win and freshman Dave Coley delivered one.

On a night where all-conference standout Bryan Dougher scored just eight points, it was Coley who poured in nine second-half points and hit the game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds left to give the Seawolves a 54-53 victory. The win snapped his team's three-game losing streak.

In many ways the 2010-11 season has not started out as planned for head coach Steve Pikiell (pictured right). Coming off a 22-win season and with four starters from that team returning, the expectations were high for Stony Brook, which improved to 4-4 with the win Tuesday. But injuries to key players, including second-team all-leaguer Tommy Brenton, have forced young players into the lineup sooner than expected. None of factors serve as a deterrent to Pikell, the 2010 America East Coach of the Year, who's high on his team.

"We've been battling adversity all season long," said Pikiell after the game. "I'm proud of our guys, we're in every game. We're playing good enough to be right there, but we need to finish. We've missed free throws down the stretch in some of our other games and could have wrapped those games up but we didn't do that today. We got to the basket, we made some big defensive stops and kind of grinded out a game on the road against a very desperate basketball team that's better than their record indicates."

Hartford Falls Again, 57-40 to Rival Marist

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—The Hartford women’s basketball team fell to 1-8 on Tuesday as it fell to the Marist Red Foxes 57-40. The game marks a 5-game losing streak for the Hawks.

Kate Oliver led 5-2 Marist with 13 points and 5 boards after coming out early in the first half with foul trouble. Their leading scorer, Brandy Gang, was held to 5 by the Hawks’ zone defense.

Junior Forward Keyoka Mars-Garrick went down early for the Hawks when she landed awkwardly on her ankle and was taken to the locker room only four minutes into the contest. Her post presence was missed, as Hartford was out-rebounded for the seventh time in nine games. She is listed as day-to-day.

Marist shook off an early lead for the Hawks after both teams struggled to find their first basket. The lone lead change of the game saw the Red Foxes take control of the game before Hartford could react. The rest of the game saw the visitors gradually build a lead, the largest of which was the final deficit of 17.

Albany Climbs In Mid-Major Top 25 Poll

The historic start to the 2010-11 for the Albany Great Danes women's basketball team has helped it earn some national recognition in the latest Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Although it fell 69-38 to Syracuse in its most recent game, Albany moved up to No. 23 in the latest rankings. The Great Danes have been impressive throughout the regular season, using a combination of toughness and teamwork to get off to the best start in program history.

AExtra would like to congratulate the Great Danes on earning this great recognition. This is a great accomplishment for Coach Abrahamson-Henderson and her young team, which is certain to continue to improve as the season progresses.

Vermont and New Hampshire Appear in Mid-Major Top 25

The strong start to the 2010-11 season by a handful of America East teams continues to be noticed by the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. After making its first appearance in the polls last week, the Vermont Catamounts have climbed all the way up to No. 14, which is a seven spot increase from the previous rankings. The 6-1 record to open the season is the best start for UVM since the 1956-57 season. The Catamounts will have a chance to make even more noise on the national radar when they face No. 18/21 BYU on Wednesday.

While they have not quite moved into the rankings, the New Hampshire Wildcats made an appearance as one of the teams receiving votes. Even with the loss of senior guard Alvin Abreu to an injury, UNH has impressed during the opening month of the season. With a 5-2 record so far, the Wildcats are off to their best start since the 1994-95 season. UNH faces a difficult pair of games later this week, as they host Army on Thursday and head out on the road to face Rhode Island on Saturday.

Team Focus Helps Albany to Best Start in Program History

Even before the outstanding 63-59 victory over Siena, which gave the Great Danes the Albany Cup for just the second time, it was clear that this Albany team had the chance to be something special. While there have been some great individual performances, the emphasis with this group under first-year head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson has been about the play of everyone involved in the program.

With this team off to the best start in Division I program history at 6-1, “Coach Abe” is quick to point out that everything this group has accomplished so far this season is because of the contributions from each person involved with the program.

“I think the biggest thing is team togetherness and building a new team from within,” the first-year coach said of the early success. “We are developing new standards and new expectations. This includes everything from the way we are going to act, to the way we are going to work, to the way we are going to power each other and the way we are going to be a team. We are more so teaching how to be a team than anything else.”

Hitting The Links: Albany Edition

Over the past couple of years, the Albany vs. Siena rivalry has emerged as one of the most intense in the Northeast. However, if you are a fan of the America East, the 2010 edition of this game proved to be something worth celebrating, as both the Albany men's and women's teams came away victorious.

On the men's side, the 88-82 overtime victory, which was chronicled by the Times Union, was just the second in 10 meetings against Siena. With this being the first win since 2004, it was no surprise that Albany head coach Will Brown was proud of the effort of his players after the game. One of the keys for Albany winning the third overtime game in this series was the surprising pressure defense the Great Danes came out playing. After coming into this season with a 38-game home winning streak, Siena has lost to both Vermont and Albany at the Times Union Center.

For the Albany women's team, the combination of sophomore forward Julie Forster and sophomore guard/forward Ebone Henry again proved to be difficult to slow down. This victory marked just the second for the Great Danes in this intense rivalry.

AExtra would like to congratulate both teams on bringing home the Albany Cup. Both teams delivered impressive performances against excellent opponents.

Balanced Attack Propels Vermont Past Yale

Evan Fjeld led four Catamounts in double figures with 18 points as Vermont was able to get by Yale 82-78 on Saturday. Fjeld, who scored 18 points and recorded 10 rebounds and four blocks, shot just 6-15 from the field forcing others to step up and contribute. Matt Glass shot 6-8 from the field scoring 14, Joey Accaoui scored 17 off the bench, and Brendan Bald added 14.

Brian Voelkel scored just four points, but grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 8 assists. Sandro Carissimo and Luke Apfeld provided important minutes off the bench, rounding out what was a total team win for Vermont. The 6-1 start is the best mark to open a season since the 1956-1957 season. Vermont will travel to Glens Falls N.Y. to take on No. 21 BYU led by star guard Jimmer Fredette and his 22 points per game.