Complete Game Notes (pdf)
Albany Athletics web site
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Albany (6-7, 0-2) at Vermont (9-3, 1-1)
January 15, 2003 * Burlington, Vermont * Patrick Gym
Radio: WJOY (1230-AM)
Internet Broadcast: SportsJuice.com

SETTING THE SCENE: Vermont hosts the Albany Great Danes tonight. Albany is a newcomer to America East, playing its first season in the league last year. The Catamounts improved to 9-3 overall and evened their America East record to 1-1 with a 75-61 victory over Boston University on Sunday. Albany stands at 6-7 overall and is looking for its first conference win of the year after falling to 0-2 with a 68-64 loss at New Hampshire on Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT: Senior Morgan Hall became the first player in UVM women's basketball history to score 30 points in back-to-back games. Hall poured in a career-high 38 points to lead Vermont to a 75-61 victory over Boston University and pick up its first conference win of the season. Hall's performance followed a 33-point effort at Northeastern on Wednesday night. Hall was two points shy of Vermont's all-time single-game scoring record. Former standout Sheri Turnbull '94 poured in 40 points in the 1993-94 season. McNamara was the only other Catamount in double-figures, scoring a season-high 20 points in her first start of the year. Sophomore Danielle Sabourin earned her first career start as a Catamount.

HISTORY MAKER: Senior Morgan Hall made history in UVM's victory over Boston University on Sunday. Hall became the first UVM women's basketball player to pour in 30 points in back-to-back games. She scored a game-high 33 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out seven assists at Northeastern in the conference opener. She followed that with a career-high 38 points in the victory over Boston University. Hall was just two points shy of tying the UVM single-game record of 40 points, set by Sheri Turnbull '94 in 1993. Only Sheri Turnbull and Joann McKay have scored more points in a game than Hall at Vermont. The BU game was the first time a UVM player had scored 38 points or more in a game since Sheri Turnbull netted 28 versus St. Michael's in 1991.

HALL NAMED AMERICA EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Morgan Hall was named the America East Player of the Week. She averaged 35.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. She shot 65.9% from the field, 70.0% from three-point range and 85.7% from the free throw line. Hall also handed out 11 assists and registered three blocks in a 1-1 week for the Catamounts. It's the second time this season Hall has earned America East Player of the Week honors.

JUST ONE: Senior guard Dawn Cressman is just one point away from the 1,000 career point plateau. Cressman need nine points heading into Sunday's contest versus BU. She managed eight points and 10 rebounds in the winning effort.

SCOUTING ALBANY: The 2002-2003 season marks a new era in Albany women's basketball as Trina Patterson begins her first season on the sidelines. Patterson is a nine-year coaching veteran having spent time at the College of William and Mary and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. She was the 1999 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year while at William & Mary. The Great Danes are in their second season as members of the America East Conference. Last season Albany went winless in the league (0-16) and are still searching for their first conference win this season. Senior Jess McGinlay leads the team in scoring, averaging better than 16 points per game. McGinlay is also Albany's top three-point threat, draining 35 three-pointers this season. Sophomore Danielle Hutchinson, an all-rookie selection last season, ranks second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) but leads the team on the boards, collecting 9.7 caroms per contest. Junior Kathryn Hemlock is the team leader in assists (4.6 apg) and steals (1.5 stlpg). Sophomore Becky Ayers led all rookies in scoring in the league last season but has been sidelined with a foot injury and will miss the entire 2002-2003 season. As a team, Albany is averaging 65.3 points per game and shooting 39.2% from the field, 37.2% from three-point range and 75.1% from the foul line.

SERIES STUFF: Today is the just the third meeting between the two schools. Albany is a relative newcomer to the America East. The Great Danes joined the league last season. The Catamounts swept Albany in the first-ever meetings last year.

FLASHBACK - VERMONT 77, ALBANY 55: Libby Smith posted her first double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead Vermont to a 77-55 victory over Albany in the final home game at Patrick Gym. Classmate Jen MacAulay handed out four assists in her final appearance at Patrick Gym. The victory extended Vermont's win-streak to 11 games, the longest in head coach Keith Cieplicki's five-year tenure, and improved UVM's record to 19-7 overall, 13-2 in the conference. The Catamounts jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead with just five minutes gone and never looked back. Vermont would also ride a 21-6 run to open up a 22-point margin and headed into the locker room with a comfortable 49-25 lead at the break. Smith finished the first half with 10 points, on 4-for-5 shooting, and eight rebounds. Sophomore Aaron Yantzi and freshman Katie McNamara added 11 points each. Despite shooting just 30% from the field in the second half, the Catamounts were able to maintain their double-digit lead for the next 20 minutes. The closest the Great Danes would get would be 21 points. Yantzi finished with a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds. McNamara chipped in 13 points, four rebounds and five assists. Jess McGinlay and Becky Ayers led Albany with 12 points each. Freshman Danielle Hutcheson added 10 points and nine rebounds.

PLAYING FAVORITES: The University of Vermont women's basketball team was picked to win the 2003 America East Championship in a vote of the conference's head coaches. The Catamounts, the defending America East regular season champions, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2002 WNIT Postseason Tournament last season. UVM, 23-9 overall last season and 14-2 in America East, received seven of the possible eight first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team) and 63 votes overall. It is the second straight year and third overall that Vermont has been selected as the top team in the preseason poll during head coach Keith Cieplicki's tenure.

HALL & YANTZI PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: Senior Morgan Hall and junior Aaron Yantzi, both of whom were selected to the 2003 America East Preseason All-Conference Team, earned all-conference second team honors a year ago. It marks Hall's third straight appearance on the preseason all-conference team, while Yantzi is making her first showing. Yantzi led the team in scoring (14.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and led America East in field goal percentage (58.2%). Hall ranked second on the UVM squad in scoring (12.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and became the 11th Catamount to reach the 1,000 career point plateau last year.

MAC IS BACK: Sophomore Katie McNamara, an America East All-Rookie selection a year ago, netted a season-high 17 points at Northeastern (Jan. 8) and followed with 20 points and six rebounds in a victory over Boston University (Jan. 12). McNamara also earned her first start of the season versus the Terriers. She is averaging 18.5 points per game versus league opponents.

CRAZY EIGHTS: Junior guard Theresa LaRocque has scored exactly eight points in five of Vermont's last six games. She is averaging 7.8 points and dishing out 4.1 assists per game.

SABOURIN GETS A START: Sophomore guard Danielle Sabourin got her first career start in UVM's win over Boston University on Jan. 12. She played a career-high 29 minutes and handed out four assists, while collecting three steals.

MAKING THE GRADE: The UVM women's basketball team posted an overall team grade point average of 3.29 in the first semester. Seven of the 11 players registered over a 3.5 GPA. The basketball team ranked fourth among UVM's 22 varsity teams in team GPA for the semester. Junior guard Theresa LaRocque earned one of the Top 10 GPA's by UVM student-athletes in the fall semester. The psychology major posted a 3.94 GPA in the fall. LaRocque was joined on the UVM Athletic Council Honor Roll by teammates Chriss Battram, Lani Boardman, Dawn Cressman, Tricia Freeman, Katie McNamara and Ilze Zekite.

DOUBLE DIGIT DIVA: Junior forward Aaron Yantzi reached double figures in the scoring column 25 times last season, including the final 18 consecutive games. Yantzi reached double digits just seven times as a freshman. She has netted double figures in UVM's first 11 games, running her streak to 29 straight games. Her streak was snapped with a season-low two points versus BU.

SWEET 70: Vermont is 17-2 when it scores 70 points or more since last season. UVM posted a 13-0 unbeaten mark last season when it reached the 70 point plateau. Vermont suffered its first loss when scoring 70 points or more in a 79-75 overtime contest versus Syracuse.

SOPHOMORE SLUMP?: Sophomore Lani Boardman has been impressive in Vermont's first nine games this season. Boardman netted nine points and grabbed five rebounds at UMass. She averaged 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds and collected five steals in the Brown Tournament. Boardman is averaging 7.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and is shooting 50% from three-point range this season. Boardman was one rebound shy of posting her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds versus Syracuse.

NEWCOMERS: The Catamounts add three newcomers to the team this season. The trio of freshmen include Chrissy Battram, Tricia Freeman. Battram is a 5-8 guard from Parkhill, Ontario and was a four-year letterwinner at North Middlesex District High School, where she averaged 27.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 steals per game. She was a two-time all-conference selection and led North Middlesex to the Western Ontario Championship four straight years. Freeman, a 5-11 forward from Scarborough, Maine is reunited with AAU teammate Lani Boardman. Freeman averaged 12.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists at McAuley High School last season. She also led McAuley to a record of 43-2 record over her junior and senior seasons, including an unbeaten 20-0 mark in her final year.

OH CANADA!: The University of Vermont women's basketball program has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success recruiting players from north of the border. Burlington, Vermont is located just 90 minutes away from Montreal, Quebec. The 2002-2003 roster boasts five Canadians:
* Chrissy Battram (Parkhill, Ontario)
* Ashleigh Cuncic (Carlisle, Ontario)
* Dawn Cressman (Guelph, Ontario)
* Danielle Sabourin (Sarnia, Ontario)
* Aaron Yantzi (Waterloo, Ontario)
Overall, there have been 12 Canadians in the Vermont program. Five of UVM's 1,000-point scorers are from Canada, including the top three (Karalyn Church, Sheri Turnbull, Joann McKay).

CANADIAN CANNON: Senior Dawn Cressman (125) is just three three-pointers away from moving into second place among UVM's all-time three point leaders.

WHO'S NEXT: Vermont is idle this weekend. The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday when they travel to rival Maine for a 7:30pm contest in Orono. UVM continues on the road at defending America East Tournament Champion Hartford on Saturday for a 2:00pm tilt.

FAN-TASTIC: UVM is ranked 32nd in the 2002-03 National Women's Basketball Div. I Home Attendances Poll conducted unofficially by the Wisconsin Sports Information Staff. The Catamounts are averaging 1,153 fans per game in three home contests this season. UVM ranked 61st out of 321 Division I NCAA women's basketball schools in attendance for the 2001-2002 season. It's the fourth straight year Vermont has ranked near the top of the statistical leaders in attendance. Vermont played in front of 25,521 fans at Patrick Gym, averaging 1,823 at home. Approximately 50 fans boarded a bus to make the 16-hour drive to Blacksburg, Virginia for UVM's WNIT Quarterfinal game at Virginia Tech. The fans attended the game to cheer on the Catamounts then turned around and headed back to Burlington right after the contest.

CUNCIC JOINS THE CATAMOUNTS: University of Vermont women's basketball head coach Keith Cieplicki has announced that Ashleigh Cuncic (pronounced CUE-nick) has joined the team and will be eligible to play in the second semester of the 2003-2004 season. Cuncic, a native of Carlisle, Ontario, transferred to Vermont from Xavier. The 5-10 guard was a member of the Musketeers during the 2001-2002 season. She was an Atlantic-10 Preseason All-Rookie team selection and finished the season averaging 2.2 points in 14.4 minutes per game in 26 games. Xavier posted a record of 12-19 overall and went 5-11 in the Atlantic-10 last season. Prior to her collegiate career, Cuncic was a four year player at St. Mary's High School. She was named the St. Mary's Athlete of the Year in 2001 and averaged 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. The Crusaders won the Ontario Provincial Championship in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 and posted a record of 187-6 during her five-year career. Cuncic was named the St. Mary's Basketball MVP in 1998 and 2000 and was a member of the Hamilton Transway Club Team that won the Provincial Championship in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Cuncic also played soccer and volleyball at St. Mary's. "We are very excited to have Ashleigh join our program. She's an excellent perimeter player with good offensive skills. She will bring more athleticism to our team. Plus, we've had a tremendous amount of success with our Canadian players," said Cieplicki. Cuncic will have two and a half years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the second semester of the 2002-2003 season and the first semester of next season (2003-2004).

ZEKITE TO RED SHIRT: Freshman Ilze Zekite, Vermont's first-ever European player hails from Riga, Latvia. The 6-3 forward will red shirt the 2002-2003 season. Zekite has been a member of the Latvian National Team for the past four years and was a member of the squad that finished fourth at the European Championships this past summer.