University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Conference Play Begins with UMBC Wednesday Morning (11 A.M.)
1/2/2018 4:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's basketball team opens up the America East season with an 11 A.M. match up, hosting the UMBC Retrievers. The Wildcats are coming off of two straight victories and a 4-2 December record.
THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
Senior Olivia Healy scored 16 points and classmate Kat Fogarty added 15 to lead the Wildcats past Cornell, 48-45, on Friday, Dec. 29, in Lundholm Gymnasium. Healy also led the team with seven rebounds. Senior guard Brittni Lai added 10 points. Senior and leading scorer Carlie Pogue missed the game with an injury.
The 45 points were the fewest allowed against a Division I team this year and the Wildcats have given up a total of 92 points in their last two games (they beat Sacred Heart on Dec. 20). They have allowed 55.7 points a game, which is second-best in America East to Stony Brook's 55.2.
The Wildcats improved to 9-4 and closed out the non-conference portion of the season. Last year, they went 10-3 in non-conference play.
Four Wildcats average in double figures in scoring, led by Pogue at 15.5 points per game. Healy is at 13.1 points. Fogarty averages 11.3 points per game and Lai is at 11 points per game. Fogarty leads in rebounds at 6.3 a game, followed by Pogue at 5.8, Healy at 5.2 and Aliza Simpson at 4.2.
UNH opens America East play with a home game against UMBC on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m. for Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day. The Wildcats play at Albany on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. and at Binghamton on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. before returning home to play UMass Lowell on Monday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.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 Carlie 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 UMBC
The Retrievers lost at Princeton, 77-40, on Saturday in their most recent game. The loss was the 10th straight for UMBC and dropped the team's record to 1-12. The one win was over Gettysburg, a Division III team that has a 9-1 record, on Nov. 14. Senior guard Laura Castaldo had 10 points and sophomore guard Tyler Moore nine against Princeton.
Castaldo averages 13.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Te'yJah Oliver is at 8.5 points a game and freshman forward Janee'A Summers at 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. UMBC averages 54.8 points a game and its opponents are at 60.3. The Retrievers are being outrebounded, 42.1 to 33 rebounds per game.
Phil Stern, a 1994 graduate of Concordia, is in his 16th season as coach at UMBC. Stern's wife, Ashley Cieplicki, is the head women's basketball coach at Rutgers Newark.
Last year, UMBC went 15-16 overall and 10-6 in America East. UNH took a pair of games from the Retrievers last season, 60-50 in Durham and 65-61 at UMBC.
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.
LUCKY LUNDHOLM: The Wildcats are 5-0 at home in Lundholm Gymnasium this season. They were 14-2 in their Lundholm games last season.
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 120-104 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, has broken into the Top 10 on UNH's career scoring list. She is at No. 10 on the list with 1,275 career points. 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 608. Orsi Farkas (1996-2000) is at No. 11 with 635 and Aubrey Danen (1998-03) is at No. 10 with 666.
SIMPSON ON THE MOVE: Aliza Simpson has moved into the Top 20 in a couple of career categories. She's No. 16 in three-point field goals with 79. Adriane Domanski is next on the list at No. 15 with 87 and Marcie Lane (1991-94) is at No. 14 with 95. Simpson is tied for No. 16 in assists with Steph Schubert (1994-98) with 226. Christine Gulas (1982-84) is No. 14 with 264.
EVERYONE INTO THE POLL: The Wildcats hold down the No. 18 spot in the latest www.collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Albany is right behind UNH at No. 19 in the poll. The Great Danes are 11-2 in non-conference play.
GOOD MORNING: The Wagner and Dartmouth games had morning start times. They were two of four UNH games scheduled before noon this season. The Wildcats have home games against UMBC on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and against Hartford on Feb. 14, also at 11 a.m. The UMBC game is Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day and admission is free for faculty and staff. The Hartford game is an Education Day contest.
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."
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.
