"0-0 Now In Conference"

University of Vermont women's basketball enters Sunday's first America East game against Hartford still in search of its first win in 2010-11. Not only do the Catamounts have a totally different look than last year's 27-7 team, but they've also played a brutal schedule which has included trips to Nebraska, North Dakota and Michigan State, and home games against Boston College and Marquette, in addition to an upcoming trip still to Oklahoma State.

After Vermont's most recent game against Kansas State at the Blue Sky Classic on the campus of Dartmouth College, Head Coach Lori Gear McBride had the chance to let us know how anxious her team is to begin league play, telling her players "we're 0-0 now in conference." As the Vermont team enters the new year, it can also look forward to getting a second chance for the season as all nine America East schools are now even with 0-0 records. In the video below, Gear McBride goes into more detail on what she's seen of late from her team and what she's looking forward to in the America East slate.

Mitchell Thrives In Scoring Role

After an excellent 2009-10 season, which saw the Maine Black Bears win 19 games and finish third in the America East, expectations were incredibly high due to the return of nine of the top ten scorers. However, numerous injuries prevented this team from ever really getting the chance to gel during fall practice and the first couple games of the season.

One of the key players that missed the first four games was senior guard Terrance Mitchell. After averaging 9.9 points per game in his first season in Orono, Mitchell battled an injury to his index finger, which robbed the Black Bears of a leader and one of the elite scorers on the team. However, the news could have been a lot worse for this team if the initial diagnosis had been correct.

“My injury was a dislocation of my left index finger,” explained Mitchell. “It dislocated and then some tendons wrapped around it and were preventing it from going back into the socket. Because of that, I had to get surgery. At first, I was supposed to be out about six weeks, so I was thinking about redshirting. Then, when the doctor actually did the surgery, he said I should only be out about four weeks and would be able to work myself back into shape. That was just one of the best things I could ever hear.”

Fry's Two Late Free Throws Give UMBC a 68-67 Win Over Niagara

UMBC Men's Basketball forward Justin Fry hit two free throws with 4.4 seconds to play, propelling the host Retrievers to a dramatic 68-67 win over Niagara. Niagara’s Marvin Jordan’s 3-point attempt rimmed the goal at the buzzer, setting off a celebration by Retriever players and fans at midcourt. The victory was UMBC’s first (1-12) of the season. Here are highlights and post-game comments.

Vermont closes out non-conference schedule with thrilling win

Vermont finished up its non-conference schedule with an exciting 68-61 (OT) victory over Mount Saint Mary's. Here are some highlights from the game courtesy of UVM athletics.

UMBC defeats tough local rival Loyola in final non-conference game

The UMBC women’s basketball team (6-7) won for the fifth time in its last seven games, defeating cross-town rival Loyola (3-8) by a score of 60-57 in its non-conference finale Wednesday evening at the RAC Arena. Junior guard Michelle Kurowski led four Retrievers in double figures. Here are highlights.

Terriers Lose Another Heartbreaker

A common theme this season for the Terriers is their inability to pull out the close victories. Wednesday evening’s 82-81 loss was the team’s fifth game where the margin of defeat was three points or less. A tip-in by the Bobcat’s Dominique Langston propelled Quinnipiac to 9-2 and dropped the Terriers to 5-8.

“We aren’t doing the things it takes to win,” senior John Holland said. “Eventually it has to stop, and we have to start doing little things to win.”

Similar to the Terriers’ defeat against LaSalle, the home team cruised to a double digit lead in the first half. Boston University’s lead was a big as 13, but the host team could not keep its foot on the gas pedal.

A bright spot for the Terriers was the play of Holland. The Bronx native, who was inconsistent earlier this season, played like a man possessed in the first half. Holland scored 24 points in the first half and finished the game with 31, including 4-of-8 from three point range. He also led the team in rebounds with nine.

Black Bears Snap 9-Game Skid

The University of Maine women's basketball team snapped it's 9-game skid with a 66-62 win over UMass at Alfond Arena last night. The victory also avoided tying the program's all-time worst start to a season and moved the Black Bears to 2-10 going into the first league game vs. Boston U. on Sunday at Case Gym.

It was Maine's ability to be aggressive in the paint, and Massachusetts' inability to get inside that was one of the major differences in this game. UMass, who relied on their three-point shooting all night now, didn't shoot a free-throw at all in the first half and only three times for the entire game, while the Black Bears took 22 attempts. Maine also dominated on the boards, 46-31.

While the Black Bears were able to get inside, they balanced that out with effective three-point shooting. More precisely, sophomore guard Katelyn Vanderhoff too advantage of the long-range shot, hitting a career-high five treys in five attempts, all in the second half. The sophomore finished with a game-high 18 points as well as eight rebounds.

You can check out the entire boxscore here, and also check out postgame comments from head coach Cindy Blodgett, sophomore Amber Smith and senior Tanna Ross below.

Maine Women's Basketball Live Chat vs. UMass

Doug Brown Receives Accolades

While many sports fans across the country associate Doug Brown with his work on ESPN Radio, fans of the Boston University Terriers have a much different connection. Along with his job at ESPN Radio, Brown serves as the radio voice for the Terriers and does an excellent job with that as well. Brown has long been one of the most respected voices in sports radio, and he recently received some attention from CNNSI, as he was one of four people to be named Best National Radio Voice.

Here is a segment from the article that goes into a little bit of detail surrounding why Brown and his colleagues were selected:

You can hear this quartet throughout ESPN Radio, including on the flagship SportsCenter Nightly show. Along with the quality of their voices, what stands out here is the diligence and professionalism that each man delivers daily. Names are correctly pronounced, setups are done intelligently. It's a pleasure to listen to radio professionals who care about quality.

AExtra would like to congratulate Brown on this recognition. He does a terrific job with both ESPN Radio and also in providing exciting coverage of the Terriers.

Hogan Provides Inspiration for Wildcats

One of the most inspiring stories of the 2010-11 season has been the return of redshirt-freshman guard Kelsey Hogan from two serious injuries. After playing in just three games in her first two seasons at New Hampshire, Hogan leads the Wildcats in minutes played and total assists in 2010. The return of Hogan, who possesses the leadership abilities needed at the point guard position, has been a huge boost for Maureen Magarity in her first year as the UNH head coach.

“I just think her leadership is an intangible that is so important,” emphasized Magarity. “When Kelsey is on the floor, she is like an extra coach out there. She is able to run the sets and just organize everybody. She is really a natural leader. For Kelsey, she is a very confident young lady, and I think the more experience and playing time she gets, the more comfortable she looks on the floor.”

While battling through the rehab and recovery that was required after surgery was difficult, it was not being able to contribute and help her teammates succeed that proved to be the most excruciating thing for Hogan.

“It [the hardest thing] was definitely seeing my teammates struggle and not being able to do anything,” explained Hogan. “It was so hard for me to see my teammates struggling on the court and knowing that I couldn’t do anything but watch.”

Vermont Ranked No. 20 in Mid-Major Top 25

In the latest edition of the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, the Vermont Catamounts dropped four spots to No. 20. The drop comes after a week in which the Catamounts went 1-1 on their two-game road trip, losing at Fairfield and winning at Iona. Interestingly, both Fairfield and Iona are just outside the Top 25 in the latest poll, which demonstrates just how difficult of a road trip the Catamounts faced.

Vermont is set to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a home game against Mount Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Dec.29. Two other teams to keep an eye on in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll down the road are Maine and Albany. The Black Bears have rallied from a 2-5 start to win their last four games, including victories over Massachusetts and Penn State. Albany has won its last three games and faces a huge test tonight when it takes on Xavier.

AExtra would again like to congratulate the Catamounts for their consistent performance during the non-conference schedule. With so many teams playing strong basketball heading into America East play, it should make for an exciting and unpredictable conference season.

Albany Shows Holiday Spirit

Albany head coach Will Brown

In one of the more unique stories of the college basketball season, Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com brought to attention the fact that the Albany men's basketball team, which saw its travel plans for its game against Xavier altered by the weather in the Northeast, agreed to have an extra guest on its bus to Ohio. This extra guest happened to be Mark Lyons, who is a starting guard and the second leading scorer (13.1 ppg) for the Musketeers. Lyons is a native of Schenectady, N.Y. and had no other way of getting back to campus for the matchup against the Great Danes.

Here are some quotes from Albany head coach Will Brown about how this situation came about and how it really was an easy decision to have Lyons join the team on the way to Ohio:

"I was sitting in my office and my director of operations came in and said he had gotten an unusual request," Albany coach Will Brown said. "Then he told me that Lyons was stuck in Schenectady and Xavier wanted to know if he could travel with us on our bus."

Lyons is second on Xavier's team in scoring at 13.1 points per game and a key component to Xavier's success, but Brown didn't hesitate in agreeing to take the local kid along for the ride.

"It's the right thing to do," added Brown. "This time of year, it's what it's all about."

While this game is clearly one of the highlights of the remaining non-conference schedule, the decision by Coach Brown and his staff to help out Mark Lyons is a great demonstration of  holiday spirit. AExtra would like to wish safe travels in the upcoming months to all the fans and teams in the conference, especially as America East play quickly approaches.

Boston University vs. Richmond Postponed

The Tuesday evening contest between BU's women's basketball team and the University of Richmond has been postponed. The Terriers are unable to travel to Richmond, VA. due to an ongoing blizzard in New England. Currently there is no make-up date.

Boston University is 3-8 through first two months of the season, with many of its defeats at the hands of talented teams such as Boston College, St. John's, Texas, and Marist. The 8-4 Richmond Spiders would have been another tough test for the Terriers, but certainly good preparation for America East play.

The Terriers have one more opportunity to gain momentum for conference play as they travel to Providence to face the Friars (6-6) on December 31 at 1 p.m.

Voelkel Fills Up the Stat Sheet for UVM

In a sport that often sees players grab the spotlight due to how many points per game they average, it is not a surprise that the tremendous play of freshman guard/forward Brian Voelkel hasn’t necessarily grabbed the spotlight. However, on a team with an elite scorer like senior forward Evan Fjeld, who is averaging 17.3 points per game, Voelkel leads the America East in rebounds (10.0 per game),  and leads his team in assists (5.1 per game) and minutes played (30.4 per game).

When he arrived on campus following a standout career at Iona Prep, there was a belief that Voelkel would be able to contribute to this team as a freshman. With a strong work ethic and the ability to get his teammates involved in the offense, Voelkel has quickly gone from potential contributor to one of the main forces behind Vermont’s strong start.

“I just kind of came here with the attitude to work hard and let everything fall into place,” Voelkel explained. “Everything ended up working out and the coaches really liked the way I played and thought I could help the team out and help us get some wins.”