An Update from Senior Jenna Peterson & Junior Jackie Smith

Battling Two Opponents - Boston University & Breast Cancer - WBCA PinkZone Game Review

This year there was a twist on my pink day experience. Not only was I a part of the game but I was able to help with the set up and pre game ‘Women in Sports Day’ activities. At the game we had such an incredible crowd, probably one of the biggest we have had all year! Playing in front of a bigger crowd always lifts the atmosphere and makes the game for the players more enjoyable and for the crowd too, I am sure!

I have recently been working with Harold and Laurie in the marketing department as a part of my major. I was asked to help set up and get the gym ready for the pink day activities. Knowing what this day was truly marketing brought a new light upon it.

I know that all the girls knew it was pink day, we had our special uniforms and warm-up shirts, and most of the girls I am sure knew it was fundraising for breast cancer, but being able to help set up the gym and reflect on the true meaning of the day was special. After the game, it was incredible to hear how much money all of our fans were able to raise for the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at St. Francis Hospital.

An added bonus that I was able to enjoy before the game was the Women in Sports Day festivities. A female athlete from each team is selected, and I was chosen from women’s basketball. This recognition was a nice compliment from my coaches and a huge honor for me.

~ Jenna


This afternoon we stepped on the court to battle two different opponents - The Boston University Terriers and breast cancer. It was great to see so many supporters of the cause and our team. We have the greatest fans in the country and it showed today! After a bumpy start, we were able to feed off the crowds’ energy and come away with our 16th straight win.

BU always comes out hard against us and we had some trouble early on the offensive end. Our defense continued to be effective and sparked us offensively. After a very sloppy first half, our post players came out and got some better looks. Once we started knocking down shots we were able to pull away from our long standing rival.

After the game we were given the regular season trophy which was a great feeling. Winning this championship was a big goal of ours, but we are nowhere near satisfied! There is a whole lot of basketball left to play, and many things we still need to improve on. We’re taking it one game at a time, like we have been all year, and continue to have ablast playing together. See you on Saturday!

~Jackie

Sorry it's been so long!!

It's been a week since we last played and since we made history by being the first WBB team in school history to be ranked in the Top 25. So you can imagine that we are eagerly awaiting our next game. Don't get me wrong, it has been nice to give our team the mental and physical break they've earned. We gave them off from practice over the weekend knowing that we would still have plenty of time to get prepared for our Binghamton game this Thursday. It was a nice break for our coaching staff as well. I don't remember the last time I took a day from coming in the office- I actually got stuff done around the house!

But you can also imagine that the team would much rather be playing games then practicing. They have continued to work hard to improve even though the season is winding down. They are determined to be playing their best in March which makes my job easier because I know they will come to work hard every day in practice. We also know that we need to be prepared to get our opponent's best. No matter their record or place in the league, team's always seem to be ready to play Hartford. So with 4 games to go, we can't afford to not be ready or to take anyone lightly.

We are excited to have 3 of our last 4 games at home. Our Pink Zone game will be held this coming Sunday, the 21st at 2pm vs. Boston University and we are expecting a tremendous crowd. Then we wrap up our road games with a short trip to Albany on the 24th before celebrating Senior Day on February 27th at 4pm vs. Vermont. Then of course, it's on to the America East Tournament which is also here at Hartford. I look forward to seeing all of our great fans quite a bit in the weeks to come. Thanks for supporting us all year- hopefully the best is yet to come!

Coach Rizzotti

From the Hot Tub to the Cold Whirlpool

October is one of the best times in the college basketball season. When “First Friday” arrives and you finally get all the players on the floor, you start to get a clearer picture of how the team is really going to fit together. At the same time the first two weeks of October can be tough. With recruiting weekends, and a full compliment of workouts it can be exhausting for players and coaches alike. Most of the team will head home this weekend and recuperate before we get back to work on Monday.

The girls have certainly been working hard since our last blog, when we were enjoying some time together swimming, eating, and card-playing for a Labor Day picnic. The fire that accompanies the beginning of each school year, normally leads to aches and pains that land a few players in the training room. The bravest of them will spend some time in an icy whirlpool which certainly helps with recovery. Luckily the team is healthy thanks to a lot of hard work from our strength and conditioning staff headed by Coach Houser and the efforts of our training room staff and new athletic trainer Julie Blowers.

As a group, we’re all very excited for the start of the season as we hope to avenge a couple of road losses from last season to get us rolling. With a tremendous returning core group of players and the addition of some talented freshman we are expecting this season to be one of the best in the programs history. Keep an eye out for our full schedule and as always, we hope to see you out there.

Coach Sullivan

Welcome Back!!!!

There is always a great sense of anticipation from the coach’s and student-athletes as the school year gets under way. We wasted no time getting started this year. We started pre-season workouts on the first day of classes and haven’t looked back. I was overall pretty happy with the conditioning level of the team and very happy with their eagerness to work hard and get better. There is certainly a sense of hunger stemming from last year’s disappointing end of the season.

We also jumped right into some community service. On Saturday, our team helped clean up campus for an hour in the morning. Our goal is to create an awareness of the need for students to have pride in their living environment and be responsible and respectful of the space they live in. I was proud of the kid’s attitude because it’s not easy to clean up someone else’s trash! But we know that if everyone does a little more, it will go a long way.

We finished up Labor Day weekend with a picnic over at my house on Monday. Half the team braved the cold water and took a dip in the pool. It certainly didn’t hurt to have the water in the hot tub warmer for them to sit in afterwards! At one point, one of our freshmen, Nikkia Smith had 3 kids hanging on her neck (my son Holden, and Coach Mik’s kids Briana and Drew). Mary and Jenna braved the cold water and gave them boat rides in the pool. Coach Sullivan worked the grill as we offered many healthy choices of food: grilled chicken, pasta salad, fruit and more. Coach Mik’s wife, Sarah made her famous “Death by Chocolate” for us to enjoy which was complimented by Amanda Weaver’s Butterfinger dessert. Both delicious! And we did have some card sharks in the house. Coach Price and Kacey kicked some butt in spades against Coach Witt and Ilicia (who did nothing but complain about how bad their cards were!) All in all, it was a nice time and an appreciated weekday off from working out!