AMERICA EAST WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT CAPSULES
(1) Vermont (22-6, 14-2)
Leading players: Senior guard Emma Utterback (13.8 points per game); junior forward Anna Olson (11.9 ppg, 6.1 rebounds per game)
Summary: The Catamounts lost their first two games of the conference schedule but have been unstoppable since, winning 14 in a row to claim a share of the America East title for the first time since 2001-02. Olson, Utterback and sophomore guard Catherine Gilwee lead a balanced attack that averages 62.1 points per game, second in the league. The Catamounts also boast the top defense in the conference, allowing 53.2 ppg.
(2) Ualbany (20-10, 14-2)
Leading players: Senior forward Helene Haegerstrand (14.9 ppg); junior guard Kayla Cooper (14.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg) Summary: Unanimously picked to finish first in the America East preseason poll, the Great Danes started the conference slate 8-0 after an injuryriddled preseason and ended it with a five-game winning streak. Ualbany struggled at times to put together complete games, but depth and experience made the difference for the Great Danes, though they couldn’t overcome slow starts at Maine and Vermont in their two losses.
(3) Maine (15-13, 11-5)
Leading players: Sophomore forward Adrianna Smith (18 ppg, 9.5 rpg); senior guard Anne Simon (12 ppg)
Summary: Simon, last year’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, missed half the league schedule due to injury, but returned for the Black Bears’ last two games, racking up 19 and 18 points, respectively. Smith, nearly unstoppable under the basket, leads the league in scoring and rebounding and is fourth in assists with 96 on the season. She’s the first player to average 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in conference play since Vermont’s Sheri Trunbull in 1993-94.
(4) UMBC (13-14, 10-6)
Leading players: Graduate guard KK White (11.9 ppg); graduate forward Kiara Bell (11 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
Summary: White, Bell and graduate guard Ashia Mccalla (11.1 ppg) power the best offense in the America East, which averaged 62.9 points per game. Defensively, however, the Retrievers have struggled, allowing a conference-worst 65.6 points per game. After missing the postseason for the past two years, UMBC earned its best seed since 2017.
(5) NJIT (13-15, 8-8)
Leading players: Freshman guard Alejandra Zuniga (12.4 ppg); senior guard Kenna Squier (11 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
Summary: Squier has started all 105 games in her four years at NJIT and ranks 14th in the America East in scoring, shooting 50.2 percent from the field. Zuniga is the highest-scoring freshman in the league, and sophomore forward Trinity Williams ranks third in blocks (1.5 per game) along with pulling down 6.1 boards per game. The Highlanders have lost three in a row.
(6) Binghamton (13-16, 6-10)
Leading players: Senior guard Denai Bowman (12.9 ppg); senior forward Clare Traeger (8.8 rpg)
Summary: Aside from Bowman and Traeger, the Bearcats are a young team, boasting five freshmen and three redshirt freshmen. One of the redshirt freshmen, Ella Wanzer, is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, making 40.1 percent of her shots from behind the arc. Another, Jadyn Weltz, has 121 assists on the season, most in the America East. Binghamton has lost five games in a row, a streak that started with an overtime loss at Ualbany in which the Great Danes won the extra period 11-1.
(7) Umass Lowell (5-21, 4-12)
Leading players: Sophomore guard Ivory Finley (9.9 ppg); senior guard/forward Kaylen Banwareesingh (8.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
Summary: The River Hawks have won three games in a row, beating Binghamton, UMBC and New Hampshire to clinch a playoff spot on the last day of the season. They have the lowest-scoring offense (53.3 ppg) in the conference and the second-worst defense, allowing 64.6 points per game. Sophomore forward Amaya Dowdy leads the league with 1.9 blocks per game, and senior guard Jaliena Sanchez, who missed most of last season due to injury, has a league-high 121 assists this year as well as 39 steals.
(8) Bryant (9-20, 3-13)
Leading players: Junior center Mariona Planes Fortuny (15.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg); senior guard Nicole Gallagher (10.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
Summary: The Bulldogs struggled in their first season as a member of the America East, going winless through five games before beating New Hampshire. But they boast the third-best offense in the conference (62 ppg), and five of their losses were by single digits. Planes Fortuny’s 15.7 points per game are second in the America East, and she’s also second in blocks with 1.6 per game.