Jacqueline Murphy is listed at 5-4 but makes a big impact rebounding for William Smith. Hobart and William Smith photo by Kevin Colton

Go ahead, ask Jacqueline Murphy about her statistics. Quiz her on her points, or ask her how many rebounds she pulled down in a given night.

She'll never be able to tell you the answer. She doesn't know and, quite simply, has never cared.

Of course, the ironic part is that most players putting up the kind of numbers that Murphy is would be able recite them at will. But not Murphy. That's not how she's ever done things, and she's not about to change.

For the record, Murphy, a sophomore guard for the William Smith Herons, is averaging 7.5 points per game, tied for fifth on the team. But it's not Murphy's scoring that sets her apart -- it's her rebounding. Murphy, at all of 5-feet, 4-inches, is averaging 10.6 rebounds per game. That ranks her 37th in Division III, but every player ranked ahead of her is at least two inches taller.

Last season, as a freshman, Murphy worked her way into the starting lineup and averaged 7.9 rebounds per game in just 25.8 minutes. In less than two full seasons, Murphy already boasts William Smith's fourth-highest career rebounding average (8.949 per game).

"I don't make sure I get that many rebounds, I just do what I can and that's where I fit in," Murphy said. "If that's the only thing I can do that night to help us win, then that's what I'll do."

Murphy has done plenty of rebounding, and the Herons have been winning, particularly lately. In an early-season win over Keuka, Murphy pulled down 15 boards. In a hard-fought two-point loss to Rivier on Dec. 31, Murphy collected 19 rebounds. In 15 games this season, Murphy has reached double-digit rebounds in all but five of them. The Herons (8-7, 4-2) have also won four of their past five games to move into third place in the Liberty League behind St. Lawrence (11-4, 7-0) and Skidmore (11-3, 4-1).

Murphy's rebounding prowess has been particularly beneficial for a team lacking size this season. William Smith coach Lindsay Drury said the Herons often take the court with four, sometimes even five guards at once. Murphy also excels on defense, and routinely draws the opposition's top post player.

"It's pretty impressive. Most teams, by now, know how impressive it is, just because she's consistently doing it," Drury said. "It's not just one game where she has 15 rebounds or something. She's consistently rebounding in double figures. ...

"Day in and day out, she guards 6-1 kids, 6-foot players. She is our other forward a lot of the time on the floor at 5-4. That's just an impressive feat in itself, to be able to compete and hold players under their averages."

Drury now relies heavily on Murphy, but as recently as November 2009, Drury wasn't sure whether Murphy would even play basketball. Murphy decided late in her senior year of high school that she'd like to pursue basketball at the college level. After originally inquiring about another player at Academy of Holy Names, Murphy's high school coach suggested Drury take a long look at Murphy. Drury loved what she saw.

"She's extremely athletic to begin with, but she has a nose for [rebounding]," Drury said of Murphy. "She reads where the ball is coming off the rim and she just goes up and [grabs it]."

Murphy considered Liberty League rival St. Lawrence before ultimately settling on William Smith, a decision Drury said she is routinely thankful for.

"Kids pick other schools all the time, but you just hope you don't have to play them twice in your conference," Drury said. "We're lucky that she chose us."

Murphy's rebounding figures have actually come down in the past week. After grabbing just two in limited minutes of William Smith's 73-22 rout of Bard, Murphy, like most of the starters, took a seat on the bench. As recently as last Tuesday, Murphy's average was up to 11.5 rebounds per game, which ranked among the top 20 in the country.

"I had no idea that I would come to this level and be anything like this either," admits Murphy, who is in the final stages of proposing a created major in movement sciences. Murphy is also minoring in biology, with an eye toward physical therapy after graduate school.

Though she credits her older brother, Brian, for toughening her up from years of backyard sports, Murphy has worked to hone her skills at William Smith. No where is this more evident than the various rebounding drills the Herons run through in practice.

The drills can vary from two-on-two to five-on-five situations, but the base rules -- or lackthereof -- remain the same: no out of bounds, no fouls, just get the rebound and score. It should come as no surprise who dominates these drills.

"[Murphy] says, 'They're our favorite [drills],' but really what she means is they're her favorite," Drury said. "... She pretty much dominates, she gets excited when we do those drills. And everybody else doesn't get excited when she's not on their team. They're like, 'Oh, crap, she's on the other team...'

"It is very instinctual for her. ... For her, defensively and rebounding, in particular, she's very strong at. It's pretty natural for her."

The Herons were co-regular season Liberty League champions last season with St. Lawrence, and fell to Vassar in the conference tournament final. If the Herons, now with even less experienced post players than last season, are to make another run at the NCAA tournament, Murphy's defense and rebounding will be a key component. Just don't expect her to start studying her stats.

"Scoring and rebounding is great that it happens from time to time, but it's really not something that I [focus on]," Murphy said.

MIT, Amherst suffer surprise losses

Two of the top teams in the Northeast -- and the country, for that matter -- were handed defeats this week. WPI, which has now won six of its last seven, marched into Cambridge, Mass., and sent MIT to its first loss of the season. Amherst was edged by Little Three rival Wesleyan in the final seconds last Tuesday.

WPI held a one-point lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation before a key 12-2 run over the next few minutes put the game out of reach. WPI held off MIT and secured the 200th career win for head coach Chris Bartley. WPI was able to wear down MIT not through one outstanding performance, but rather a well-balanced attack. All five starters reached double figures in scoring, while Domenick Mastacusa added nine points off the bench.

Matt Carr, WPI's leading scorer, led the way with 18 points, while MIT's Mitchell Kates scored a game-high 22 points. WPI's win is crucial in the NEWMAC standings, where MIT, WPI and Springfield all enter Tuesday night with identical 4-1 marks. MIT still has road games remaining at Springfield (Feb. 4) and, in the regular season finale, at WPI (Feb. 15).

Amherst had its five-game winning streak snapped by Wesleyan, which got the tying and go-ahead free throws from Shasha Brown with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Brown finished with 19 points and seven assists, but his clutch free throws sealed the Cardinals' win. Wesleyan's Mike Callaghan scored 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting to lead all scorers in the game. Taylor Barrise scored 23 points and connected on seven of his eight 3-pointers for Amherst in the loss.

Just three days later, Brown again was Wesleyan's late-game hero, draining a running jumper as the buzzer sounded to give the Cardinals a 58-57 win over Tufts. Brown, the team's leading scorer each of the last two seasons, has again been dynamic this season, leading Wesleyan in scoring (18.2 PPG), assists (86) and steals (32).

Buffalo State's Simmons' explodes

Junior Jake Simmons sparked Buffalo State's 110-68 rout of Plattsburgh Saturday by draining a school record nine 3-pointers. Simmons, who was named the SUNYAC player of the week for his two-game showing this week, connected on nine of his 17 3-point attempts and scored 37 points, one short of his career high.

On Friday, Simmons poured in 16 points in just 20 minutes to help the Bengals knock off Potsdam State, 86-63. Simmons leads Buffalo State in scoring, and ranks among the top 25 in scoring and top 10 in 3-pointers per game in the country.

The two wins helped Buffalo State keep some pressure on SUNYAC leader Oswego State, which sports a 8-0 conference mark. Buffalo State, Cortland State and Geneseo State are in second with 6-3 conference records.

Stevens, which went 1-1 this week, sits atop the Empire 8, but Hartwick, Nazareth and Ithaca are all one game back in a tightly-packed race. Penn State-Harrisburg notched wins over Gallaudet and SUNY-Cobleskill this week to improve to 14-3 overall and 7-0 in the NEAC. Morrisville State (9-7, 6-0) is just a half game back in the NEAC standings.

Amherst, Rochester remain unbeaten

Danielle McNabb tallied 18 points to go along with eight rebounds as Rochester defeated Case Western Reserve 73-61 Friday, its first of two wins this week. The Yellowjackets also blasted Carnegie Mellon 74-29 to improve to 16-0 overall.

Top-ranked Amherst also remained unbeaten, but it had a few close calls. After dropping Kean 81-58 last Tuesday, Amherst got all it could handle from Bowdoin (63-59) and Colby (51-50) on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The game against Colby, in particular, was a nail-biter. The Lord Jeffs trailed by seven with 4:34 remaining, but rallied to take the lead for good on Caroline Stedman's jumper with 18 seconds left. Stedman finished with 14 points, while Megan Robertson scored a game-high 18 points. Amherst extended its winning streak to 36 games, a streak that includes 28 consecutive conference wins.

Colby had won seven of its last eight before falling short to Amherst. Still, the White Mules have looked strong so far this season behind the play of Rachel Mack and Jil Vaughan. The NESCAC is loaded with top teams, including Tufts (15-3, 5-1), Connecticut College (13-3, 4-2) and Williams (16-2, 3-2).

Ithaca put together a 2-1 week, notching key wins over Empire 8 rivals Elmira and Alfred. The Bombers, led by Kathryn Campbell, sit at 14-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference.

This week's buzzer beaters

Full disclosure -- this section is taken from the main site (http://www.d3hoops.com/buzzerbeaters/2011-12/index). But I enjoy watching these on a weekly basis, so I thought I'd include any buzzer beaters from around the East and Northeast Regions. And lucky me, because we've got four great ones this week.

Jan. 22: Chris Dende ties the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer in regulation for the University of Rochester and the Yellowjackets went on to beat Carnegie Mellon 72-64 in overtime. Watch.

Jan. 21: Oswego State's Chad Burridge inbounds the ball to Hayden Ward with 2.3 seconds remaining for Ward's game-deciding shot against Cortland. Watch.

Jan. 20: Sasha Brown's coast-to-coast drive with 5.1 seconds left beats the horn as his jumper bounces around the rim and falls to lift Wesleyan (Conn.) past Tufts 58-57. Watch.

Jan. 19: Maine-Farmington's Andrew Dickey hits a three-pointer to knock off Husson 67-64 in North Atlantic Conference men's basketball. Video is courtesy of Husson University and New England School of Communications. Watch.

Top 25 roundup -- Middlebury, Amherst hold steady

Middlebury and Amherst again turned in unblemished weeks to remain atop the D3hoops.com men's and women's Top 25 polls, respectively. That makes seven straight weeks for Middlebury and all eight weeks of the season for Amherst.

MIT and Amherst each dropped in the men's poll after suffering losses. MIT fell from No. 3 to No. 6, while Amherst dropped from No. 4 to No. 7. Williams (No. 15 to No. 13), New York University (No. 23 to No. 17) and Eastern Connecticut (No. 25 to No. 18) all jumped up. Rhode Island College cracked the rankings (No. 25), while WPI, Oswego State, Albertus Magnus, Wesleyan and Western Connecticut all received votes.

Rochester held steady at No. 5 in the women's poll. Williams jumped up two spots to No. 21. Colby and Ithaca again received votes.

Quick hits

Erik Callo tallied 14 points and 17 rebounds to lead Endicott to a 62-48 win over New England College last Thursday. The Gulls (11-4, 6-2 CCC) have won four straight and trail conference leader Salve Regina by a half game. ... Luke Matarazzo scored a career-high 27 points and added six rebounds and three assists to help Bates edge Connecticut College 84-80 in overtime last Friday. Matt Vadas poured in 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Camels, which have dropped six of their last seven. ... Chris Jeffers filled up the stat sheet to the tune of 11 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and six steals as Utica defeated Alfred 85-66 for its first Empire 8 win. Utica's Matt Baldwin led all scorers with 25 points and connected on six of his 12 3-point attempts. ... Richie Bonney scored 15 points, while Matt Pebole and Stefan Thompson each added 14 points in Hobart's 91-45 win against Bard over the weekend. The Statesmen's defense held the Raptors to just 26 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers. Hobart (13-2, 6-0 LL) sits atop the Liberty League standings, leading Skidmore by one and a half games. ... Hartwick senior Chris Ryder joined classmate Mark Blazek as career 1,000-point scorers, hitting the milestone in the Hawks' 87-65 win over Nazareth Saturday. Ryder finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Hawks won their third in a row after losing their only two games of the season. Hartwick trails Empire 8 leader Stevens by one game. ... Johnson and Wales' Lamonte Thomas, the nation's leading scorer at 33.2 points per game, scored 25 points, but was eclipsed by Zach O'Brien Saturday in St. Joseph's (Maine) 83-71 win. O'Brien exploded for 35 points on 11 of 19 shooting -- including four of seven on 3-pointers. The win kept St. Joseph's two games behind GNAC leader Albertus Magnus. ... Vytas Kriskus scored 31 points and Tyrone Hughes added 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Brandeis to a 97-89 win over UAA rival Chicago. ... Charles Fenner III netted a team-high 19 points in 19 minutes off the bench to lead the University of New England to a 73-56 win over Curry Monday night. The Nor'easters have won three of their last four -- all CCC games, after an 0-12 start.

Contact me

Whether you have an interesting story idea, know of a player or coach approaching a career milestone, or just want to talk basketball, I want to hear it. Please reach out to me at andrew.lovell@d3sports.com. You can also follow me on Twitter (@andrew_lovell).