Complete Game Notes (pdf)
America East Web Site
Maine Athletic Web Site

Vermont (10-3, 2-1) at Maine (10-4, 3-0)
January 22, 2003 * Orono, Maine * Alfond Arena
Radio: WVMT (620-AM)
Internet Broadcast: SportsJuice.com

SETTING THE SCENE: Vermont hits the road for just the second time this season in America East action. The Catamounts face arch rival Maine tonight at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. UVM (10-3, 2-1) is coming off a 61-48 victory over Albany last Wednesday and has had a week to prepare for the Black Bears. Maine is the only remaining unbeaten team in America East, sporting a 3-0 record in the league. Overall, Maine is 10-4 on the season and is coming off a 64-45 victory at Binghamton on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT: Vermont 61, Albany 48 Senior Dawn Cressman posted her second double-double of the season with 17 points, including her 1,000th, and a game-high 12 rebounds to lead Vermont past visiting Albany, 61-48. Cressman became the 13th Catamount to reach the 1,000 career point mark. Cressman also becomes the 9th member of Vermont’s 1,000 point/500 rebound club. She collected her 500th carom in UVM’s season opening victory over Yale. Junior Aaron Yantzi ignited a 14-2 run in favor of Vermont that opened up the game and gave the Catamounts a comfortable 15-point lead, 49-34, with 9:51 remaining. UVM’s lead would grow to as much as 18 on a three-pointer by Cressman at the 4:16 mark. Sophomore Katie McNamara posted her third double-figure scoring night in as many games with a game-high 18 points. Classmate Lani Boardman added 12 points and nine rebounds for Vermont.

OFFENSE vs. DEFENSE: Tonight’s game pits America East’s best scoring offense (Maine - 71.1 ppg) versus the league’s best scoring defense (Vermont - 57.3 ppg). The Catamounts lead the league in field goal percentage (46.7%), while the Black Bears lead the conference in field goal percentage defense (36.6%). The teams also boast the top two scorers and field goal percentage leaders in America East - Maine’s Heather Ernest leads the league in scoring (20.6 ppg), while Vermont’s Morgan Hall is second, averaging 18.1 ppg. UVM’s Aaron Yantzi leads the league in field goal percentage (59.6%), while Ernest is in second, shooting 56.4% from the floor.

GRAND SIGHTS: Senior Dawn Cressman reached the 1,000 career point mark with 17 points in UVM’s victory over Albany on January 15. Cressman is the 13th Catamount and sixth Canadian to reach the milestone. She is also the ninth member of UVM’s 1,000-point/500-rebound club. She grabbed her 500th career carom with a career-high 12 boards in UVM’s season opening victory over Yale. Cressman enters tonight’s game with 1,016 points. Next up on the 1,000 point watch is junior Aaron Yantzi. Yantzi enters tonight’s game with 895 career points and is 105 away from the milestone.

MAC IS BACK: Sophomore Katie McNamara, an America East All-Rookie selection a year ago, has reached double-figures in all three league games this season. McNamara struggled through the non-conference portion of UVM’s schedule, but has bounced back and is averaging 18.3 points and 5.0 rebounds versus America East opponents.

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.

BOARD-MAN: Sophomore Lani Boardman is living up to her last name. The York, Maine native is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game in league action. She has grabbed nine rebounds in four of the last five games.

FOR STARTERS: Head coach Keith Cieplicki used the same starting five for UVM’s first 11 games. However in the first three America East games, he has used three different line-ups.

TOTAL OFFENSE: Senior Morgan Hall is responsible for 44% of Vermont’s total offense this season. She’s led Vermont in scoring six times this season and has been the team’s assist leader eight times. Total offense is calculated by taking the individuals total field goals, adding the individuals assists and dividing that number by the team’s total field goals.

HALL’S HISTORY: Senior Morgan Hall made history in UVM’s victory over Boston University on January 12. 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.

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 Boston University.

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. Both losses when scoring 70 points or more have happened this season.

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 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 (126) is just two three-pointers away from moving into second place among UVM’s all-time three point leaders.

HALL HITS 100: Senior Morgan Hall is playing her her 100th career game tonight. She is the 19th Catamount to reach the mark and joins classmate Dawn Cressman. Cressman played her 100th career game versus Brown in the Brown Classic Championship game.

SABOURIN STARTS: Sophomore guard Danielle Sabourin got her first career start in UVM’s win over Boston University on Jan. 12. She remained in the starting five in UVM’s victory over Albany (Jan. 15).

SCOUTING MAINE: The Black Bears moved into sole possession of first place with a pair of victories last week, including one on the road. Junior forward Heather Ernest scored 18 points and pulled down 11 boards to lead Maine to a 64-50 win over Northeastern (January 15) in Orono. The double-double was her fourth of the season and 27th of her career. Ernest and the Black Bears closed out the week by downing Binghamton, 64-45, in Vestal, N.Y., on (January 18). Ernest had 16 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior guard Melissa Heon matched her season-high with a game-high 19 points against the Bearcats. Maine held Binghamton to just 28.1 percent shooting from the floor, the Black Bears’ best effort this season on shooting defense. The Black Bears have now won six straight games, the longest Maine winning streak under third-year head coach Sharon Versyp, and the program’s longest since a seven-game winning streak during the 1999-2000 season. Maine has won eight of its last nine games. The current 10-4 record is the best 14-game mark since the 1998-99 season. Ernest now has 974 career points, and needs just 26 points to become the 12th Black Bear to score 1,000 career points. Her 15 rebounds against Binghamton gives her 602 for her career, making her just the 13th player to break the 600-rebound mark at Maine.

SERIES STUFF: Tonight is the 55th meeting between Vermont and Maine. The Black Bears and Catamounts rank 1-2 among the nine members for most conference victories all-time. Maine entered 2002-2003 with an overall America East record of 206-56, while UVM owns a record of 173-86. Vermont is just 6-21 in Orono, but have left Alfond Arena with a W in four of its last five visits, including three straight. Overall, UVM has won six of the last seven games over Maine. Vermont was just 2-19 in Orono prior to Cieplicki’s arrival.

LAST SEASON: Vermont swept the Black Bears in the regular season in 2001-2002. In Orono, the Catamounts squeaked out a 59-58 victory. Aaron Yantzi netted a game-high 21 points, while Dawn Cressman posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Julie Veilleux led Maine with 18 points and 10 rebounds. In Burlington, UVM completed the sweep with a 65-44 win at Patrick Gym. Four Catamounts reached double-figures, led by Cressman and Yantzi’s 13 points each. Heather Ernest led the Black Bears with 16 points.

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 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’s 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 12th Catamount to reach the 1,000 career point plateau last year.

CUNCIC JOINS THE CATAMOUNTS: 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. 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.

SALUTE TO THE SENIORS: UVM’s Morgan Hall and Dawn Cressman are the first senior tandem to score 1,000 points each since Sharon Bay and current assistant coach Jen Niebling both reached the milestone and graduated in 1994. Hall and Cressman are just the second set of classmates to graduate as members of the 1,000-point/500-rebound club, joined again by Bay and Niebling. Together, Hall and Cressman have combined for 77 wins in their career (77-29).