Q&A With a Catamount - Courtnay Pilypaitis
Courtnay's Column - Courtnay's blog about the 2009-10 season
Courtnay Pilypaitis Highlight Reel
Is the only player in America East history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists Is the leading scorer in the league among active players Has recorded 15 career double-doubles Has reached double figures in scoring 88 times in her career ... Ranks among UVMs all-time top-10 leaders in nine categories ... Has ranked among the America East top-10 statistical leaders in at least six categories every season ... Finished the 2008-09 season ranked fifth or higher in nine categories.
2009-10 SEASON (as of 12/18/09): Was a unanimous choice, for the third straight year, for the 2009-10 America East Preseason All-Conference Team ... Also named to the Full Court Press Preseason Mid-Major Top-25 Team ... Became the all-time leader in three-point field goals made in the season opener versus Western Michigan in the first round of the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Inivational ... The record breaking basket came with 49 seconds remaining in the game and a baseline heave as the shot clock expired ... Finished the game one rebound shy of her third career triple-double (21 pts, 9 reb, 10 ast) ... Was named to the all-tournament team ... Added 15 points, four rebounds and five steals in UVMs victory over NC State to win the tournament ... It was UVMs first win over the Wolpack in the programs history and just the second victory over an ACC opponent ... Scored a game-high and season-high 36 points to lead Vermont past Boston College in the third game of the year ... Matched her career-highs in three-pointers (5) and steals (7) ... It was UVMs second straight win over an ACC opponent and the first time the Catamounts defeated BC on their home court ... Pilypaitis played in her 100th career game against the Eagles ... Paced the Catamounts with a team-high 20 points at No. 1 Connecticut ... Posted her second double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 assists in a win over Manhattan.
2009-10 SEASON: Was a unanimous choice, for the third straight year, for the 2009-10 America East Preseason All-Conference Team ... Also named to the Full Court Press Preseason Mid-Major Top-25 Team.
SUMMER 2009: Competed for Team Canada at the 2009 in the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia over the summer ... The Canadians finished 15th overall in the tournament and posted a 2-5 record ... Pilypaitis averaged 17.1 minutes per game and appeared in all seven contests ... She shot 85.7 percent from the free throw line (12-for-14) and averaged 5.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game ... She scored a tournament-high 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in the opening game versus Slovakia ... The final game of the tournament, a 83-65 victory over Mozambique, was Pilypaitis' best effort ... She finished the game scoring six points, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out five assists ... It was Pilypaitis' third competition as a member of the Canadian basketball program while at Vermont.
2008-09 SEASON: Led Vermont to the 2009 America East Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after averaging 20 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and shooting 9.13 percent from the foul line (21-for-23) Posted back-to-back double-doubles in the tournament, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds versus No. 2 Hartford in the semifinals and followed that with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game versus No. 1 Boston U Finished the season leading the team in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (7.3 rpg), assists (166-5.0 apg), three-point field goals (67), three-point field goal percentage (.387) and free throw percentage (.787) Closed out the season averaging 21 points per game in the postseason Scored a team-high 24 points (4-for-6 3 FG) in UVM's NCAA First Round game at No. 1 Connecticut ... Ranked among the America East leaders in nine of 10 statistical categories for the second straight season Was second in assists, third in rebounds and fourth in scoring in America East, was the only player in the league to be ranked in the top-four in scoring, rebounding and assists Opened the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds in a win over UMass Became the 16th player at UVM to reach the 1,000-career point milestone and the seventh to reach the mark prior to her senior year and is the fourth fastest to the mark in school history Also grabbed her 500th career rebound in her junior campaign, becoming the 12th member of UVM's 1,000-point/500-rebound club Is one of 12 players in school history to play over 3,000 minutes Recorded the second triple-double in Vermont history with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a victory over Holy Cross Pilypaitis owns both triple-doubles in the program's history Scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the America East opener versus UMBC Reached double figures in 14 of 16 conference games Had her streak of 58 consecutive starts snapped when she stepped out of the starting lineup on "Senior Day" to allow all five seniors to earn a start ... Was a repeat winner of the women's Underclass Athletic Achievement Award handed out by the UVM Athletic Department to the top men's and women's athlete in the freshman, sophomore or junior classes at the annual Rally Awards.
2007-08 SEASON: Named the America East Player of the Year and was a unanimous pick for the America East All-Conference First Team Just the second player in league history to win America East Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman and America East Player of the Year honors as a sophomore Was the fourth sophomore in league history to win player of the year honors and is the third at UVM Overall is the fifth Catamount to win the award, first since Karalyn Church (1998) Was a unanimous choice and only underclassmen named to 2007-08 America East Preseason All-Conference Team Ranked in league's top-10 in nine-of-10 statistical categories Led Vermont in scoring (16.8 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg), assists (180 - 5.45 apg), free throw percentage (.831), free throws made (157) and three-point field goals made (68) Named America East Player of the Week six times, including three straight weeks Only two other players in league history have earned America East Player of the Week honors three consecutive weeks and six or more times Scored in double-figures in 32 of 33 games Posted a double-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds in win over St. John's in the championship game of the TD Bank Classic, giving UVM its second straight tournament title Was named MVP of the tourney for the second straight year Averaged 16 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 assists in the tournament Earned all-tournament team honors at Northern Arizona Tourney Averaged 13 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists, UVM finished third overall Opened America East action scoring 23 points in a win at Stony Brook Tied UVM's single-game scoring mark, pouring in 40 points in a loss at Boston U Went 11-for-22 from the field, 5-for-7 from three-point range and 13-for-16 from the foul line in the game Four games later, recorded first-ever triple-double in UVM women's basketball history in win over Hartford Scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out 10 assists In second meeting with Boston U, Pilyapitis nearly pulled off her second triple-double, finishing the game with 17 points, career-high 17 rebounds and nine assists Posted her seventh double-double of the year at UMBC, pouring in 29 points and adding 10 rebounds Was held to five points at the half and came out to score 24 points in the second half alone ... Made a season-high tying five three-pointers in the game (5-for-12) ... Made first five free-throws in the regular season finale versus Binghamton to set a new school record for most consecutive free throws ... She connected on 27 straight over four games Pilypaitis made 23 straight free throws to start the season Scored 20 or more points six times, grabbed five or more rebounds 26 times, handed out five or more assists 16 times on the year Averaged 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists in two America East Championship games Averaged 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and shot 57.1% from the floor and 75.0% from three-point range (9-for-12) in a pair of Postseason WNIT games Scored 21 points on a 7-for-12 effort, including 5-for-7 from long range, in the second round Postseason WNIT game at BC.
SUMMER 2007: Selected to the Canadian U21 National Team that competed in the 2007 U21 FIBA World Championships in Moscow, Russia ... Helped Team Canada to a sixth place finish (out of 12 teams) ... It was the best-ever finish for a Canadian team in that age group ... Pilypaitis averaged 6.0 minutes, 2.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in the tournament ... Her best outing was a 10-point performance in 10 minutes in Canada's 78-54 win over China ... Also played with the U19 Canadian National Team at the 2007 U19 FIBA World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia ... Served as a tri-captain of the team.
2006-07 SEASON: Was unanimous choice for the America East Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team ... Named to the America East All-Conference Third Team ... Won the America East Rookie of the Week honor seven times, setting a new school record for earning the weekly honor ... Was one of two players on the team to start all 31 games ... Led the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), ranked second in rebounds (5.3 pg) and assists (126) ... Was the first freshman to lead Vermont in scoring since Joann McKay in 1984-85 ... Was the first freshmen under coach Dawley and the first since 1998-99 (Libby Smith) to start the season opener ... Scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in her collegiate debut versus UMass ... Netted 19 points and collected seven steals, two shy of the school record, in her second career game ... Added seven points, eight assists and seven rebounds in a win over East Carolina to help the Catamounts win the TD Bank Classic ... Named the tournament MVP ... Grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and added 12 points for first career double-double in win over Northeastern at the Hawk Classic hosted by St. Joseph's ... Named to all-tournament team ... Recorded second career double-double with 15 points and 11 assists in her America East debut, a victory at Boston U ... Scored a career-high 24 points on 10-for-22 shooting at Albany ... Reached double figures 22 times ... Posted fourth best scoring average among freshmen in program history ... Was one of four rookies in the country at the Division I level to lead their team in scoring ... Averaged 21.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.0 steals, while shooting 46.7% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range in America East Tournament.
BEFORE VERMONT: Came to Vermont from St. Peter High School in Orleans, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa ... Averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals per game as a senior ... Three-time St. Peter Athlete of the Year and three-time team MVP ... Was the captain of the St. Peter teams that won a silver and bronze medal in the OFSAA Championships (provincial championship) ... Named the Orleans Online Athlete of the Year in 2005 ... Earned high school all-star honors three times ... Was MVP of the Nike All-Canada Camp in 2005 ... She won a gold medal with the Ontario U17 team at the 2005 Canadian Summer Games.
PERSONAL: Is the daughter of Linas and Fiona Pilypaitis ... Was born in Victoria, British Columbia ... Has an older brother Matthew ... Is a public communications major ... Last name is pronounced pil-ah-pie-tis.
Career Statistics
Total 3-Point Rebounds
Year GP-GS Min/Avg FG-FGA Pct FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off-Def Tot Avg PF-FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts/Avg
2006-07 31-31 935/30.2 144-340 .424 57-156 .365 81-116 .698 48-116 164 5.3 75-2 126 104 9 59 426/13.7
2007-08 33-32 1135/34.4 165-400 .413 68-168 .405 157-189 .831 32-196 228 6.9 79-0 180 157 21 53 555/16.8
2008-09 33-32 1194/36.2 158-376 .420 67-173 .387 118-150 .787 30-211 241 7.3 90-1 166 129 10 70 501/15.2
TOTAL 97-95 3264/33.6 467-1116 .418 192-497 .386 356-455 .782 110-523 633 6.5 244-3 472 390 40 182 1482/15.3