Daily Word: Weekend Preview

It'll be a light weekend for America East hoops, but exciting nonetheless. We've got some awesome matchups to bring you as teams continue looking for that signature win to highlight non-conference resumes. Thursday is the new Friday, and you can always count on AExtra to get your weekend started with a full preview. Enjoy!

Vermont's Trey Blue

Men's Basketball

Friday, Dec. 14

Maine at Army, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 15

Hartford at Rice, 8 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 16

Quinnipiac at Boston U., 1 p.m.
New Hampshire at Boston College, 1 p.m.
Maine at Marist, 2 p.m.
Vermont at Niagara, 2 p.m.

Fast Break

From Albany's Athletic Communications department: after Jacob Iati drained seven three's last night, he became the nation's leader in made treys with 41 on the season.

As of Dec. 9, Binghamton's Jordan Reed was fourth among freshman in the country at 18.3 points per game and second among first-years in rebounding at 10 per contest. Those numbers have dropped a bit after the Bearcats' game on Tuesday, but Reed is still averaging 17.4 ppg and 9.8 rpg.

Boston U. is shooting 50 percent from the field over its last four games. The Terriers are 3-1 over that span.

Hartford is shooting just under 70 percent (69.4) from the free throw line this season. When the Hawks have shot 70 percent or better this season, they are 4-1.

Maine is leading the conference with 13.8 assists per game as a team, and much of that comes from Xavier Pollard, who has 41 assists on the year. In Maine's three wins, Pollard averaged seven assists per game, up from his overall average of 4.6 apg.

Though UMBC won't play this weekend, Ryan Cook is just four points shy of becoming the first America East player to reach 200 points this season. Cook is averaging 17.8 points per contest.

After averaging 8.5 points per game last season, New Hampshire's Ferg Myrick is averaging 15.1 per contest so far this year, including 19.25 ppg over his last four games.

Stony Brook freshman Jameel Warney is shooting a cool 61.5 percent from the field this year, the second best mark in the conference and easily best among freshman. Warney is also averaging 12.8 points per game over his last five games.

After reaching double figures just once in his first six games, senior Trey Blue has reached that benchmark in three consecutive games for Vermont. The senior transfer is heating up as the conference slate approaches.

New Hampshire's Cari Reed

Women's Basketball

Saturday, Dec. 15

Binghamton at Syracuse, 1 p.m.
St. Peter's at Stony Brook, 2 p.m.
Albany at Delaware St., 5 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 16

Vermont at Oklahoma St., 1:30 p.m.
Quinnipiac at Hartford, 2 p.m.

Fast Break

Albany is 4-0 when Lindsey Lowrie leads the team in scoring. The sharpshooter averaged 17 points in those four games, including a 21 point showing last time out.

Binghamton's Jasbriell Swain is one of two players in the conference averaging more than 10 points and seven rebounds per game (10.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg).

Chantell Alford of Boston U. is the only America East player, male or female, to have scored 200 points thus far in the 2012-13 season. Alford is currently at 208 (18.9 ppg).

Hartford continues to lead the league in scoring (62.9 ppg) with an incredibly balanced attack. Of the Hawks' top five scorers, no one averages more than 10.4 ppg and no one is below 7.1 ppg.

Maine leads the league in three-pointers allowed, as its opponent has only made more than five in four of the Black Bears' 10 games.

Raven Harris of UMBC continues to be a problem for opposing offenses, as she is leading the conference in steals per game, averaging almost four steals per contest.

Cari Reed of New Hampshire joins Swain as the only other player in the conference to average more than 10 points and seven rebounds per game (12.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg).

Stony Brook's rebounding margin of +9.8 is tops in the conference. The Seawolves boasts three of the top 10 rebounds in the America East.

Niki Taylor of Vermont ranks second in offensive rebounding with 3.3 per game. The second year forward has been the Catamounts' best rebounder with Shanai Heber out due to injury.

Linked Up

The Boston U. women are up to eighth in Graham Hays' mid-major poll on ESPN.com.

The Albany Times Union has a recap from Albany's win over South Carolina St. last night, which includes some high praise from the opposing coach.

Kevin Krause of Stony Brook has been named a preseason Third-Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Seven America East women's soccer standouts were named to the NSCAA Northeast All-Region Team.

Binghamton is again holding a contest which helps local students honor their teachers.