‘Cats Prepare for La Salle, Lehigh, Fairfield in Christmas City Classic

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's basketball team, riding a three game winning streak, will travel to Bethlehem, P.A. to face off in the Christmas City Classic tournament hosted by Lehigh on Saturday and Sunday. The Wildcats face off first with La Salle University on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 4:30 p.m. and will face either Lehigh or Fairfield depending on the results of both opening games.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Senior Carlie Pogue had 23 points and classmate Olivia Healy added 20 to lead UNH to its third straight win, 74-65, at Bryant University on Tuesday. The Wildcats improved to 3-1 on the season. They now take on La Salle in a first-round game in the Christmas City Classic at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Lehigh and Fairfield play in the other first-round game and UNH will play one of those teams on Sunday.

The Wildcats went 26-6 overall last season and were 15-1 in the America East Conference to grab their first outright regular season league title. They return a veteran group – led by Pogue, the reigning America East Player of the Year, and three other players who won league postseason honors.

The returning players combined to score 55.7 points of the 61.3 points UNH scored per game last year. Pogue averaged 16.6 points and 7.9 rebounds a game to lead the team in both categories and pull down the program's first Player of the Year honors in nearly three decades.

UNH was picked to finish sixth in last year's America East preseason coaches' poll. Coach Maureen Magarity's squad was picked to finish first in the preseason poll this year.

Pogue was also a first-team All-Conference pick last year. Fogarty averaged 10.4 points and 5.8 rebounds and was named second-team All-Conference. Brittni Lai and Olivia Healy both were named to the All-Conference third team. Lai averaged 11.1 points and 3.3 assists a game and Healy scored 8.7 points and pulled down 5.7 rebounds.
The 2016-17 Wildcats set a program record for wins (the previous mark was 23 in 1982-83) and with its regular season league title earned a spot in the WNIT.

SCOUTING LA SALLE

La Salle fell to 1-3 on the season with a 69-52 loss at Temple on Wednesday. The Explorers were within four points at 53-49 with just over six minutes remaining before the Owls pulled away. LaSalle's win was over Lafayette, 74-47, to open the season. The Explorers have lost games to American, 66-48, and Drexel, 79-54.

Amy Griffin, a 6-foot-1 senior guard/forward, averages 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game. She went over the 1,000-point mark for her career last season. Junior guard Andreana Miller averages 13,.7 points and 3.3 rebounds. Redshirt freshman guard Shaquana Edwards averages 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

Jeff Williams is in his eighth season as head coach at La Salle and was the Atlantic 10 coach of year last season. The Explorers went 17-13 overall with their most wins since the 2006-07 season and were 9-7 in the league.

SCOUTING LEHIGH

The host Engineers bring a 3-2 record into the tournament. They beat Mansfield in their home opener, 77-47, on Wednesday and also own wins over Cornell, 62-57, and Monmouth, 75-57. They lost their opener at Minnesota, 107-73 and fell at Villanova, 62-42.

Camryn Buhr, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, had 15 rebounds and 11 assists against Mansfield. She averages 14.4 points and eight rebounds a game. Senior guard Quinci Mann averages 14.4 points and 3.4 rebounds. Sophomore Hannah Hedstrom averages 3.8 assists and 5.6 rebounds per contest.

Sue Troyan is in her 23rd season as head coach of the Engineers. They were 10-20 overall and 5-13 in the Patriot League last season.

SCOUTING FAIRFIELD

Fairfield is 1-3 entering its first game in the tournament against Lehigh. The Stags beat Mt. St. Mary's (Md.) at home 76-65 on Wednesday night after opening the season with losses to Richmond (72-67), William & Mary (57-47) and Northeastern (63-43).

Sophomore guard Sam Kramer made seven of her 10 three-point shots to tie a school record for treys made in the win over Mt. St. Mary's. She finished the game with 27 points. Kramer averages 14.8 points and four assists per game. Samantha Cooper, a 6-foot-2 senior, also averages 14.8 points a game and gets 11.3 rebounds. Khadidiatou Diou, a 6-fooot-3 junior, averages 13.3 points and six rebounds.

Joe Frager is in his 11th season as head coach at Fairfield and has had 10 winning seasons. The Stags were 17-14 overall last year and 13-7 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

GOOD SEATS ARE AVAILABLE: Individual and group tickets for UNH women's basketball games are available at www.unhwildcats.com, by calling 603-862-4000 or at the Whittemore Center box office.

HOME COOKING: The Wildcats have four nonconference home games remaining before New Year's.

The next home game is Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 5 p.m. against Colby-Sawyer. UNH also has nonconference home games Friday, Dec. 1 against Northeastern at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 9 against Manhattan at 1 p.m.; and Friday, Dec. 29 against Cornell at 7 p.m.

The Wildcats open America East play with a home game Wednesday, Jan. 3 against UMBC at 11 a.m.

THE COACH: Maureen Magarity is in her eighth season as head coach of the Wildcats. She directed the program to a 26-6 record and its first outright America East regular season championship in 2016-17. The team won as many as 20 games for only the third time in its history and first since the 1983-84 season. The program's previous record for wins was 23 in 1982-83.

One of last season's featured victories was a 50-44 decision over Maine in Lundholm Gymnasium on Jan. 19. That win was Magarity's 100th as head coach of the Wildcats. She owns a 114-101 overall record at UNH.

Magarity earned America East Coach of the Year honors last season. She was also a finalist for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year award.

CARLIE'S CLIMBING: Carlie Pogue, the America East Player of the Year last season, is closing in on a spot on UNH's Top 10 scoring list. She is at No. 12 on the list with 1,165 career points. UNH assistant coach Kelsey Hogan (2008-14) is next with 1,181 at No. 11 and Theresa Redmond (1979-83) is at No. 10 with 1,252. Pogue is No. 15 spot on the rebounding list with 555. No. 14 Denise Higgins (1980-84) is at 564. Ray Williams (2003-07) is at No. 13 with 569 and Danielle Clark (2003-07) is at No. 12 with 579.

EVERYONE INTO THE POLL: The Wildcats hold down the No. 16 spot in the latest www.collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll.

GOOD MORNING: The Nov. 18 game at Wagner was played at 11:30 a.m. and is one of four UNH games this season scheduled before noon. The Wildcats play at Dartmouth on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 11 a.m. They have home games against UMBC on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m. and against Hartford on Feb. 14, also at 11 a.m.

THE CAPTAINS: Kat Fogarty, Brittni Lai, senior guard Peyton Booth (Wadsworth, Ohio) and junior guard Emily Peters (Lindstrom, Minn.) have been named captains for the 2017-18 Wildcats.

"All four are tremendous leaders and each brings something different to the group," Magarity said. "Kat and Peyton were our captains last year and obviously did a great job and were deserving again. All four of them stood out as leaders during the offseason and we're excited to have them as our captains."

LUCKY LUNDHOLM: The Wildcats had a record of 14-2 in their home games in Lundholm Gymnasium last season.

TITLE TIME: Last year's America East regular season championship was UNH's first outright league title. The Wildcats shared the championship of what was then the Seaboard Conference with Northeastern in 1984-85. Both teams had 4-1 records in the league.

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