Resilient Hawks Earn America East Championship

Over the course of the first few months of the season, the Hartford women's basketball team looked nothing like an America East contender. With numerous injuries throughout the season, a handful of young players were forced into key roles. While that may have led to some struggles earlier in the season, it also prepared this team for conference play. This hard work and perseverance was on full display in the America East championship game, as the Hawks used a complete team performance to earn a 65-53 win at Boston University. Hartford had four players score in double-figures, with sophomore guard Alex Hall netting a team-high 15 points. Sophomore forward Ruthanne Doherty scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double. In the loss, the Terriers were led by sophomore guard Mo Moran, who scored a game-high 22 points.

Holland Leads Boston U. to Thrilling Victory

Over the first 20 minutes of action at Agganis Arena, America East Player of the Year John Holland struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. However, with Boston University trailing by 15 points in the second half, Holland flipped the switch and delivered arguably his most outstanding performance of the season. The senior guard scored 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, including an individual 14-0 run that cut a 15-point deficit to one, and helped lead Boston University to a thrilling 56-54 win over Stony Brook. Thanks to this clutch performance, Holland earned the Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding Player award following the victory. The win sends the Terriers to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 and also extends their winning streak to 11 games.

Behind the Scenes At Agganis

This is a look inside Agganis Arena right around 9:30 a.m., 2.5 hours before tip-off of the America East Men's Basketball Final between Boston U. and Stony Brook. What some might not know though, is the time crunch there was to turn this building around. About 12 hours prior, the Boston U. men's ice hockey team was just wrapping up a 5-2 Hockey East quartefinal win over Northeastern in this very building, forcing a game three of the best-of-three series on Sunday. Crews at Boston U. immediately got to work changing the ice over to hardwood for today's game (photo below).


ESPN was able to set up some cameras last night since the hockey game was not televised, however the TV crew still had a 4:30 AM call this morning to do a bulk of the wiring and set up on press row and around the building. Check out the ESPN2 broadcast of today's game to see a time lapse video of the Agganis transformation that happened overnight.


The next crew call came at 7 AM for the America East conference staff members who began putting down the floor logos, which is an intricate process in its own right. Each logo (one Ameica East Championship logo; one title sponsor logo from Newman's Own) comes in multiple pieces, so each one needs to be aligned nearly perfectly. The sticker needs to be applied very carefully to the floor surface to prevent as many bubbles and folds as possible and avoid anything that could affect the game surface for the players.

So now, the game is a mere two hours away and we're in good shape and just putting together the final touches on the rooms underneath the stands such as the locker rooms and postgame press conference rooms. The first members of the media and spirit squads are just moments away from arriving.... Almost game time!

Behind the Scenes of Championship Saturday

Everybody will see the arenas at noon and 7 p.m. on Saturday when the men's and women's basketball championships are both played at Boston University, but AExtra is going to give you a little behind the scenes of what it takes to transform these venues into a championship atmosphere.

We'll start at 4:45 p.m. Friday afternoon at Case Gym where the Boston U. women are just finishing up their last practice before the big game. The Hartford women and the Boston U. men both practiced in the gym earlier in the day. In between those practices, the director for the women's game being televised by America East Television on ESPN 3 and Comcast SportsNet had to do a walk-through to familiarize himself with the space before the crew can set up. Right now, the the gym is set up for practice, three courts with the stands pushed back and no press row tables.

Of course, we start with Case Gym rather than Agganis Arena because the conference staff can not get into Agganis until very early Saturday morning because of the Terriers' Hockey East quarterfinal men's ice hockey game tonight at 7p against Northeastern. Agganis will see quite a transformation itself from ice to hardwood!

After the Terrier women get off the court is when the America East staff moves in and begins to set up the court and the arena. Stay tuned as we give you a look at how Case Gym is put together tonight, including the floor logos and the America East Championship signage!

Championship Saturday Approaches

With Championship Saturday officially less than 24 hours away, here are some great videos profiling the upcoming games:

Kelly Greenberg talks Hartford:



Steve Pikiell discuss overcoming injuries:

UMBC Women's Lacrosse stymies Delaware in 8-5 win

The UMBC women's lacrosse team (4-2) scored the first three goals of the game and never looked back in an 8-5 victory over Delaware (2-3) Wednesday afternoon at UMBC Stadium. The Retrievers led off the game with three goals in just over six minutes of action, with two by senior midfielder Ashley Stodter. That brief run proved to be enough, as the teams alternated goals for the rest of the game. Here are highlights and post-game comments.

Hawks Outlast Brown in Thriller

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.— Hartford lacrosse won its second game of the season with an 8-6 victory over the nationally ranked Brown Bears at Al-Marzook Field in a defensive battle on Wedneasday. The first goal came 19:49 into the game

Sophomore goalie Frank Piechota recorded 17 saves, none more important than his eight in the fourth quarter to preserve victory for Hartford. Piechota stopped a Brown offense that averaged 9.5 goals a game.

“We’re giving the game ball to Frank,” said Head Coach Peter Lawrence of his goalie who seemed to be playing on his head at times. “He played a great game behind a great defense.”

Albany Lax Upsets #5 UMass

Before today, it had been a while since the Albany men's lacrosse team had beaten a top-10 team. February 24, 2007, to be exact, was the last time a Great Dane team defeated an opponent ranked that high. That's when the Great Danes beat #6 Johns Hopkins, 8-7. This afternoon, that all changed when Albany topped #5 UMass at home, 9-8, the first time in the school's Division I history that Albany beat a top-five team.

Joe Resetarits

Junior attack Joe Resetarits got things started for the Great Danes, scoring less that one minute into the game. Resetarits ended the day with three goals and an assist. His final goal gave the Great Danes a 9-8 lead and proved to be the gamewinner. Resetarits has now scored at least three points in each of Albany's first three games.

Senior attack Matt Johnson also got in on the scoring party. Johnson put up a career-high four points on three goals and one assist.

While the Great Dane offense outscored that of UMass, it was the defense that truly won the game. UMass outshot Albany, 47-28, including 20-2 in the fourth quarter alone. UMass put 25 of their shots on target. However, Albany freshman goalkeeper Edmund Cathers stepped up and made 17 saves on the afternoon. Eight of those saves came in the fourth quarter, including one stop with 11 seconds remaining in the game on a shot that would have tied the game for the Minutemen.

While the win over UMass is great, the Great Danes cannot celebrate too long. They play #13/16 Ohio State on Saturday.

Stony Brook Builds Excitement for Championship Game

With the Stony Brook men's basketball team set to compete in its first-ever America East championship game, the Seawolves put out this video to get their fans excited. Needless to say, the energy is high and excitement is building for Saturday.

Boston U. holds off Hartford

Boston University used a clutch defensive performance down the stretch to hold off Hartford and advance to the America East championship game. The Terriers and Hawks went back and forth throughout the game, with Boston U. eventually coming out with the 55-49 win. With the victory, the Terriers will host the America East championship game next Saturday and will face Stony Brook.

Stony Book Surprises No. 1 Vermont

In one of the most impressive performances of the past three days, the Stony Brook Seawolves advanced to their first-ever America East conference tournament championship game with a 69-47 victory over the No. 1 seed Vermont Catamounts. The hero for the Seawolves was sophomore guard Leonard Hayes, who scored a team-high 20 points and repeatedly hit big shots that helped keep Stony Brook in front throughout the second half.

Boston U. Set to Host Hartford for Women's Championship

It was an exciting day of action on the women's side, as the big story of the day was the Hartford Hawks surprising UMBC and setting up a matchup with Boston University. In the opening game of the afternoon, Alex Young scored a career-high 37 points to lead the Terriers past Binghamton. Young hit 14-of-21 attempts from the field, including 7-of-9 from behind the arc, in a performance that will be talked about for years. Following the 59-44 win by Boston U., the Hartford Hawks used the energy from a packed crowd to surprise the No. 1 seed UMBC Retrievers and come away with a 66-48 win. Hartford received a balanced team effort, with numerous players making key contributions to setup what should be an exhilarating final next Saturday.

Hitting the Links: Semifinal Sunday

We are down to four men's and four women's teams as we approach the end of the weekend in Hartford. By the end of the day, only four teams will be left standing and next Saturday's championship final matchups will be set. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. We still have a pair of women's and men's games to get through before we find out who made it out of Chase Family Arena alive.

On the women's side, it has been all chalk as the top four seeds made it through to the semis. In the first game of the afternoon session (which actually tips at 11 a.m.), Binghamton and Boston U. go toe to toe. The Bearcats beat the Terriers in the last meeting between these teams in Vestal despite losing guard Andrea Holmes to injury during that game. But as Lynn Worthy of the Press & Sun Bulletin writes, the Binghamton women have battled. On the other side, Boston U. still has its top dog, as she was so dubbed by the Boston Globe, America East Player of the Year Chantell Alford. 

In Game Two, it is the top-seeded UMBC Retrievers against the tournament host Hartford Hawks. When UMBC won its first women's America East Championship, it beat Hartford in the final. Now, to get back to the final, the Retrievers again must go through Hartford. Hartford is at home though and is coming off a quarterfinal win over Albany. Now the Hawks are looking to avoid dropping all three games to the Retrievers this season.

The men's bracket has seen a little more parity. Vermont, the top seed, was able to get past a scrappy Binghamton team in the quarterfinals yesterday. Now, as the Burlington Free Press published, the Catamounts are once again trying to make the road to the America East title run through Burlington and Patrick Gym. To do that, they will need to slow a Stony Brook team that is peaking at the right time and a senior in Chris Martin who, according to Newsday, is not ready for his career to end.

Finally, to close out the weekend in West Hartford, the Boston U. Terriers take on the Hartford men. The Terriers are led by America East Player of the Year John Holland who, according to the Boston Herald, is back in the zone after injuring his ankle. Now with the season on the line, the Terriers, as seen in the Boston Globe, are trying harder to get the (free throw) line. On the other bench, the Hawks are flying high after beating Maine last night, in no small part due to the clutch shooting of Genesis Maciel.

Now let's play the games! Enjoy the semifinals!

Men's Basketball Awards Reception

After a hotly-contested regular season, it was great to see all the competitors come together at the Men's Basketball Awards Reception. At the reception, the America East All-Conference teams were revealed, as well as the individual award winners.

Proof That March is the Greatest Month of the Year?

As you might imagine, AExtra has a soft spot in its heart for the month of March. Although the weather may still be cold, the excitement of the end of the college basketball season makes AExtra feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The atmosphere at the America East conference tournament over the past three days has only further developed this feeling, and this celebration from the fans at Hartford shows why this is the best time of the year:

Hartford Knocks Off Maine

In front of a loud and boisterous crowd, the Hartford Hawks fed off the energy of the fans and pulled out a 66-63 victory over Maine. In a game that was competitive and tightly-contested throughout, Genesis Maciel hit some big shots down the stretch to seal the win. Maciel netted a game-high 19 points, including 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, to help Hartford clinch the victory and setup a matchup against Boston University tomorrow night. America East All-Conference First-Team selection Troy Barnies scored 10 points in his final game at Maine.