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News Release

Cassidy Tabbed to America East Preseason All-Conference Team; Women's Basketball Picked to Finish Sixth

10/28/2009

Senior Carlee Cassidy was picked to the preseason All-Conference team.

HARTFORD, Conn.—UMBC senior guard Carlee Cassidy (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) was selected to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team by the league’s nine head women’s basketball coaches, the conference announced Wednesday at the 2009 America East Basketball Tip-Off Event at the Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford, host city of the 2010 America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Newman’s Own. In addition, the Retrievers were picked sixth in the preseason coaches’ poll.

A two-time all-conference selection, Cassidy became the first player to lead the America East in scoring in back-to-back seasons in nearly a decade. She ranked 15th in the country last year, averaging 20.4 points per game, the third-best single-season scoring average in UMBC history. The 5-9 guard set school records with 613 points, 80 three-pointers and 175 free throws last season.

Cassidy also became UMBC’s all-time leader in career three-pointers with 178, and she is the fourth-fastest Retriever to tally 1,000 career points and now ranks seventh all-time with 1,228. She enters the season as the second-leading scorer among active players in the America East and ranks 51st all-time in conference history.

Joining Cassidy on the preseason all-conference team are Hartford’s Erica Beverly and Diana Delva and Vermont’s Courtnay Pilypaitis and May Kotsopoulos. Beverly and Pilypaitis were both unanimous selections for the second year in a row.

Defending America East champion Vermont is again the favorite to win the league receiving five first-place votes and 61 total points, narrowly edging 2008 champion Hartford, which garnered the remaining four first-place votes and 60 points.

Binghamton received 45 points to finish third in the poll, while Boston University (38) and New Hampshire (38) round out the top five. UMBC (35) closely follows in sixth place, followed by Stony Brook (23), Maine (13) and Albany (11).

The Retrievers return all five starters and 95 percent of last season’s scoring output from a team that tallied more than 2,000 points for just the second time in school history and ranked second in the conference with 69.4 points per game. UMBC earned the No. 5 seed in the America East Championship but fell to fourth-seeded Binghamton in the quarterfinals.

In addition to Cassidy, the Retrievers return a trio of talented sophomores in 5-9 guard Katie Brooks, 5-10 forward Erin Brown and 5-9 guard Michelle Kurowski, who combined to average 32.2 points per game and won seven America East Rookie of the Week awards.

The Retrievers’ season begins on Friday, Nov. 13, when UMBC hosts national power Virginia at 7 p.m. at the RAC Arena.

America East Preseason Coaches’ Poll

School (1^st-place votes)     Points

1. Vermont (5)                  61

2. Hartford (4)                   60

3. Binghamton                  45

4t. Boston U.                    38

4t. New Hampshire            38

6. UMBC                          35

7. Stony Brook                  23

8. Maine                           13

9. Albany                          11

America East Preseason All-Conference Team

Erica Beverly, Hartford*

Carlee Cassidy, UMBC

Diana Delva, Hartford

May Kotsopoulos, Vermont

Courtnay Pilypaitis, Vermont*

* - Unanimous Selection