‘Cats Put Their Winning Streak on the Line at Dartmouth Tuesday (11 a.m.)

Tuesday, December 5

Hanover, NH

11 AM

University of New Hampshire

Dartmouth College

Brittni Lai (Photo by Joey Walker)

Photo by: Joey Walker

‘Cats Put Their Winning Streak on the Line at Dartmouth Tuesday (11 a.m.)

12/4/2017 2:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes Watch - Ivy League Network Live Stats

DURHAM, N.H. – After a 2-0 week at home, the University of New Hampshire women's basketball team is riding a three game winning streak heading into their mid-week matchup with intrastate rival Dartmouth. The Wildcats are 2-1 in road games this season, while the Big Green are undefeated at home, with a 4-0 record.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Senior Carlie Pogue scored 23 points to match her season high and collected eight rebounds to lead the Wildcats to a 65-50 win over Northeastern on Friday night. Olivia Healy added 15 points and Kat Fogarty had 12. The Wildcats have won three straight games and are 3-0 at home.

UNH is 6-2 overall with five nonconference games – two home and three on the road – remaining before New Year's. The America East portion of the schedule opens with a home game against UMBC on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m.

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 their regular season league title earned a spot in the WNIT.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH

The Big Green bounced back from their first loss and improved to 5-1 for the season with a 60-51 win at Marist on Saturday night. Dartmouth won its first four games of the season at home against Vermont, 66-56, Boston College, 68-57, Rhode Island, 70-54, and NJIT, 81-50, before losing at Army West Point. 71-56, on Nov. 29.

Junior guard Cy Lippold led the way against Marist with 17 points and five assists. Senior guard Katie Letkewicz had 12 points and 10 rebounds and senior center Olivia Smith added 10 points and eight rebounds. Dartmouth trailed 45-40 after three periods and outscored Marist 20-6 in the fourth quarter for the win.

Lippold averages 15.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Letkewicz is at 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. Junior forward Isalys Quinones averages 10.2 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Belle Koclanes, a 2002 graduate of the University of Richmond, is in her fifth year as head coach at Dartmouth. The Big Green finished 8-19 overall and 3-11 in the Ivy League last year.

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 two nonconference home games remaining before New Year's. They play Manhattan at home Saturday at 1 p.m. and play Cornell on Friday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. The other nonconference games remaining after Dartmouth on Tuesday are at Boston College on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. and at Sacred Heart on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at noon.

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 100^th as head coach of the Wildcats. She owns a 117-102 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. 11 on the list with 1,224 career points. Theresa Redmond (1979-83) is at No. 10 with 1,252. Candace Williams (2006-10) is at No. 9 with 1,277 and Danielle Clark (1,331) is at No. 8 with 1,331. Pogue is No. 12 on the rebounding list with 583. Orsi Farkas (1996-2000) is at No. 11 with 635 and Aubrey Danen (1998-03) is at No. 10 with 666.

EVERYONE INTO THE POLL: The Wildcats hold down the No. 17 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 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.