UNH Travels to Stony Brook Saturday (2 P.M., ESPN3)

Saturday, February 16

Stony Brook, N.Y.

2 PM

University of New Hampshire

Stony Brook

Tickets

Kali Grimm (Photo by Andrew Yourell)

2/15/2019 3:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

‘Cats look to bounce back from one-point loss against Vermont.

DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire women's basketball team takes aim at a second straight road win and a third victory in the last four games when it travels to Stony Brook for a game Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Wildcats dropped a 51-50 heartbreaker at home to Vermont on Wednesday night, snapping their two-game win streak in their second consecutive game decided by a single point. They won at Binghamton, 54-53, on Feb. 9.

The Binghamton victory was No. 136 in her career at UNH for Maureen Magarity, who is in her ninth season as the Wildcat head coach. Magarity is tied for second place in career victories with the program.

Junior guard Caroline Soucy (Beverly, Mass.) had her second straight double-double against Vermont and also collected a career-high in rebounds for the second consecutive game. She had 17 points and 12 rebounds against Vermont after contributing 11 points and 11 rebounds against Binghamton.

Freshman forward Ivy Gogolin (Hopkinton, Mass.) also had a double-double against Vermont and a career-high 12 rebounds to go with her 15 points.

Sophomore guard Amanda Torres (Hudson, N.H.) had 12 points.

UNH is 6-19 overall and 3-9 in America East.

Stony Brook is 18-6 overall and 7-4 in the league and has won its last two games, including a 64-47 decision at UMass Lowell on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats are still without their leading scorer, junior forward Ashley Storey (Cumberland, Maine). Storey has missed the last 10 games and is expected to miss at least six weeks with a foot injury.

Tickets for all UNH home games are available by calling 603-862-4000 or at www.unhwildcats.com.

STORYLINES

Junior guard Caroline Soucy has back-to-back double-doubles the last two games.
Freshman forward Ivy Gogolin joined her with a double-double against Vermont on Wednesday.
Soucy and Gogolin each had a career-high 12 rebounds vs. Vermont.
Freshman guard Kari Brekke leads league freshmen in scoring at 10 points a game.
Leading scorer Ashley Storey has missed the last 10 games and is expected to be out at least six weeks with a foot injury.
Coach Maureen Magarity is tied for second in career wins at UNH with 136.
Stony Brook senior Shania Johnson is third in the country at 8 assists per game.

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Junior guard Caroline Soucy doubled up on double-doubles in Wednesday night's one-point loss to Vermont.

She followed up her 11-point, 11-rebound performance at Binghamton with 17 points and 12 rebounds against Vermont.

Soucy's double-doubles came two years to the week from the last time a Wildcat put together the same feat. Carlie Pogue, then a junior, had 32 points and 17 rebounds against Binghamton on Feb. 12, 2017 and then had 19 points and 10 rebounds the next game against Maine on Feb. 15.

Freshman forward Ivy Gogolin had 15 points and 12 rebounds against Vermont to give the Wildcats a pair of double-doubles in a game for the second time this season. Soucy and forward Maggie Ahearn each had double-doubles in UNH's 74-62 win over Holy Cross on Dec. 9.

Sophomore guard Amanda Torres had 12 points for the third straight game against Vermont.

The Wildcats won at Binghamton, 54-53, on Saturday when the Bearcats missed a shot at the buzzer. They dropped the game to Vermont when their last-second shot bounced off the rim and away.

The Binghamton win was No. 136 at UNH for head coach Maureen Magarity and moved her into a tie for No. 2 on the program's career list for career victories.

The Wildcats have played their last 10 games without leading scorer Ashley Storey. The 6-foot-3 junior forward leads the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game and averages 6.1 rebounds per game. Storey is expected to miss at least six weeks with a foot injury.

Senior forward Alli Gribbin (Keller, Texas) has missed the last three games with an injury.

Brekke is averaging 13 points a game through the last 11 games to lead the Wildcats. Her overall average of 10 points a game is tops among America East freshmen.

Freshman forward Ivy Gogolin has averaged 8.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in the last 10 games while replacing Storey in the lineup.

Brekke has 43 of the team's 116 three-pointers. She has made 33.1 percent of her treys (43-for-130).

UNH is 6-19 overall and 3-9 in America East.

Magarity has a 136-131 record in her eight-plus seasons with the Wildcats. She is tied with Cecilia DeMarco at No. 2 in career wins. DeMarco went 136-86 from 1977-86.

Soucy averages 9 points a game and sophomore guard Amanda Torres is at 7.1.

Torres is fourth in America East free throw shooting (62-for-85 for 72.9 percent).

Brekke is 42-for-52 in free throws (80.8 percent) but does not have enough shots to qualify for the league rankings.

Brekke is 13^th in the league in assists at 2.4 per game and is fourth in minutes played at 35.6 per game.

The Wildcats are scoring an average of 54 points a game and allowing 64.8 per game.

Magarity led UNH to its best two-year run in the history of the program the last two seasons.

UNH went 19-12 overall and 9-7 in America East last season, following up on 26-6 and 15-1 marks in 2016-17. The Wildcats advanced to the America East semifinals each season. The team's 45 victories over the two years combined were the best two-year win total in school history.

Storey and senior Alli Gribbin, the lone senior on the team, are the Wildcat captains.

STONY BROOK
- The Seawolves have an 18-6 overall record coming into the game.
- They're 7-4 in America East.
- Overall, they're 10-3 at home and 8-3 away.
- Stony Brook is on a two-game win streak: 68-53 over Binghamton and 64-47 over UMass Lowell on Wednesday.
- Senior guard Shania Johnson (5-foot-1) is leading the Seawolves and is second in America East in points, as well as leading the team in free throw percentage (42-for-50 for 84 percent).
- She averages 16.1 points and is first in America East for assists with 8 per game.
- She also averages 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 three-pointers per game.
- Johnson also leads the team in turnovers (80) and steals (2.3 per game).
- Sophomore forward India Pagan (6-foot-1) leads the team in rebounds (6.1 per game).
- She leads America East in field goal percentage at 51.8 percent.
- Senior guard Jerell Matthews is second on the team in turnovers (40), averaging 2.5 per game.
- She also is second on the team in steals (34) at 2.1 per game.
- Stony Brook averages 7.4 three-pointers per game, and 17.8 assists.
- The Seawolves score 16.3 points per game off turnovers.
- Caroline McCombs, a Youngstown State graduate, is in her fifth season as Stony Brook head coach.
- Oksana Gouchie-Provencher, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, scored 29 points and had nine rebounds in her team's 82-63 win at UNH on Jan. 12.
- Johnson had 16 points and 12 assists in that game.

HOME COOKING

The Wildcats are 4-8 in Lundholm Gymnasium this season.

They have two home games left this season.

The Wildcats play their Girls & Women in Sports Day and Play4Kay game against Albany at home on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at noon.

They close the regular season with their Senior Day game against UMBC on Saturday, March 2 at noon.

Tickets for all home games are available by calling 603-862-4000 or at www.unhwildcats.com.

SIDELINED

The depth of the Wildcats – especially in the frontcourt – has taken a major hit this season.

Junior forward Ashley Storey (Cumberland, Maine) has been out of the lineup since the UMass Lowell game on Jan. 9 and is expected to miss at least six weeks with a foot injury.

Three Wildcats – including two frontcourt players – are out for the year with knee injuries.

Sophomore forward Maggie Ahearn (Marshfield, Mass.) started seven of the first eight games of the season and played in nine games total before being injured. She averaged 8.7 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds in her nine games.

Ahearn sat out last season as a transfer from Providence College.

Freshman forward Faith Bonett (Moorestown, N.J.) played in the first three games of the season as a backup and then was injured during practice.

Junior guard Sarah Clement (Falmouth, Maine) has missed the entire season as she rehabilitates from offseason surgery.

ASHLEY'S STOREY

Ashley Storey was one of the leading scorers in America East at 17.1 points per game when she was sidelined and also was among the league leaders in several other categories.

Storey had hit the 20-point mark in a game once in her career coming into the season.

She's done it seven times this year, including four times in a row from the Brown game through the Bryant game. She had 21 points against Brown, matched her career high with 22 points against Sacred Heart and Northeastern and had 20 against Bryant. She set a new career high with 23 points against Holy Cross and matched that, too, against Central Connecticut State.

Storey, who missed all of last season while she rehabilitated from surgeries, added a career-best 12 rebounds against Sacred Heart for the second double-double of her career.

Her first double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) came against Stony Brook on Jan. 4, 2017.

Storey also leads the team with two 2 steals per game.

"She's just so long and she moves really well," said coach Maureen Magarity. "Her arms are so long. Someone will think they have an easy pass into the post and she'll get in there and deflect it."

WEEKLY HONORS

Freshman guard Kari Brekke was named America East Rookie of the Week on Feb. 11.

It was the second time Brekke was named Rookie of the Week in the past three weeks and the third time this season. It was the fourth time a Wildcat has received the award.

Brekke had 16 points in a 54-46 come-from-behind win over UMass Lowell in Lundholm Gymnasium on Feb. 6 and had 14 in a win at Binghamton on Feb. 9.

Freshman guard Kali Grimm (Norwood Young America, Minn.) was named America East Rookie of the Week on Jan. 14.

Grimm came off the bench and averaged 14 points and two rebounds a game in a pair of America East Conference contests.

She led three Wildcat freshmen in double figures with 15 points in a 56-53 win at UMass Lowell on Jan. 9. It was UNH's first conference win of the season.

Grimm had 13 points in an 82-63 loss to Stony Brook on Jan. 12.

Brekke also earned the award for games the week of Dec. 3-10.

She averaged 7.5 points and six assists per game in a pair of Wildcat wins.

THE COACH

Maureen Magarity, in her ninth year as head coach, has led UNH to winning seasons in each of the last two and four of the last five seasons.

She guided the team to a record-smashing mark of 26-6 overall and 15-1 in America East in 2016-17. The 26 wins were three more than the Wildcats had ever won in a season and the league record was the team's best ever and earned the school's first America East women's basketball regular season championship.

Along the way, the team set a school record with 13 consecutive wins.

UNH went 19-12 overall and 9-7 in the league last year. The 45-18 overall record over the last two seasons was the top mark for any two-year stretch in program history.

Magarity has a 136-131 overall record and is tied for the No. 2 spot in program wins.

Cecilia DeMarco (136-86 from 1977-86) shares the second spot on the list. Kathy Sanborn (170-126 from 1986-97) is at the top of the list.

THOSE DOUBLE-DOUBLES

Make that nine double-doubles from five different players for the Wildcats this season.

Caroline Soucy had her second straight double-double and third of the season against Vermont on Feb. 13 and Ivy Gogolin had her second of the season the same night.

Soucy had 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds against Vermont and Gogolin had 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as well.

Soucy's followed up her (11-point, career-high 11 rebound) double-double against Binghamton on Feb. 9.

It marked the first time a Wildcat had consecutive double-doubles in exactly two years. Carlie Pogue did it with 32 points and 17 rebounds against Binghamton on Feb. 12, 2017 and again with 19 points and 10 rebounds against Maine on Feb. 15.

Soucy and Gogolin gave UNH double-doubles in the same game for the second time this season. Soucy and Maggie Ahearn did it in a 74-62 win over Holy Cross on Dec. 9.

Alli Gribbin had a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds) against UMBC on Jan. 26.

Gogolin had 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double against Hartford on Jan. 23.

Only three of the five players with double-doubles were active as the season nears its end.

Ahearn had two double-doubles in the nine games she played and Storey had one before being sidelined.

RAINING TREYS

The Wildcats made 10 of the 16 three-point shots they attempted against Holy Cross, their highest total for made threes in seven years. They matched that number with 10 three-pointers against Stony Brook on Jan. 12.

The last time the Wildcats had as many as 10 three-pointers was Dec. 3, 2011 when they hit 12 in a loss to Harvard.

Ashley Storey made all three of the three-pointers she took against Holy Cross. Caroline Soucy also made three and Kari Brekke had a pair. Maggie Ahearn and Alli Gribbin each made one three-pointer in the game.

Kali Grimm and Caroline Soucy each had four three-pointers against Stony Brook.

HOW YOUNG IS YOUNG?

So just how young are these Wildcats?

UNH has one senior on the roster with three juniors, two sophomores and seven freshmen.

The average age of the Wildcats on opening day, Nov. 9, was 19 years, eight months and 12 days.

FOR STARTERS

Juniors Ashley Storey and Caroline Soucy, sophomores Maggie Ahearn and Amanda Torres and freshman Kari Brekke started each of the first four games of the season for the Wildcats.

The five starters had a total of 26 starts as Wildcats going into the season. Storey started 17 games in the 2015-16 season and Torres started nine games last season.

By contrast, UNH's five starters in its final game last March had a total of 273 starts between them.

JACKIE CAME BACK

Acclaimed author and former UNH basketball captain Jackie MacMullan, '82, signed copies of her latest book, "Basketball: A Love Story" before the Holy Cross game.

The book was inspired by the ESPN series of the same name and is in the form of an oral history and includes interviews with well over 100 of the biggest names in basketball, from Bill Russell and Bob Cousy to Larry Bird, from Rebecca Lobo to LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

MacMullan donated $5 from each book purchased to the UNH women's basketball program.

DOUBLING UP

The Bryant game was the first time UNH had five players in double figures in a game since a 71-43 win over Sacred Heart on Dec. 18, 2016.

Ashley Storey had 20 points, Kari Brekke 16, Maggie Ahearn 14, Amanda Torres 13 and Caroline Soucy 10 against Bryant.

Against Sacred Heart two years ago, Storey with 12 points and Soucy with 10 were among the players in double figures. The others were Carlie Pogue with 16, Kat Fogarty with 15 and Aliza Simpson with 10.

Alli Gribbin blocked five shots against Bryant. Pogue was the last Wildcat to block five shots in a game. She did it in a 58-51 win over UMass Lowell on Jan. 14, 2016.

THE FRONTCOURT

Ashley Storey, 6-foot-3, returns to lead the team in the frontcourt. Storey started 17 games her freshman year and was named to the America East All Rookie team after averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds She averaged 4.9 points and 4 rebounds as a sophomore before missing last season.

Sophomore Maggie Ahearn, 6-foot-2, sat out last season after transferring to UNH from Providence College. She played five games as a freshman at Providence.

Storey and Ahearn are joined up front by three freshmen: 6-foot Faith Bonett, 6-foot-2 Ivy Gogolin and 6-foot-3 Mary Foster.

THE BACKCOURT

Sophomore Amanda Torres, 5-foot-7, is the lone returning starter from last season.

"Amanda had a great freshman year and gained a lot of valuable experience when she ended up as the starting point guard," Magarity said. "She needs to step up even more with her leadership this year. She pushes the ball in transition and gets the team going. She's very aggressive off the bounce and her first step is really quick and her outside shooting continues to improve."

Alli Gribbin, a 5-foot-11 senior captain, junior Caroline Soucy, 5-foot-9, and junior Sarah Clement, 5-foot-8, are the upper classmen in the backcourt.

The freshmen guards are 5-foot-6 Kari Brekke, 5-foot-9 Kali Grimm, 5-foot-10 Mariah Gonzalez and 5-foot-5 Sarah Serbascewicz.

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