UAlbany Women's Basketball Returns Home to Take on Big East Opponent Providence
Game Notes - UAlbany | Providence
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ALBANY, N.Y. – In a matchup of an America East team versus a Big East squad, UAlbany comes back to the SEFCU Arena to host Providence on Tuesday, December 1st at 7 p.m.
This is UAlbany's second of three non-conference home games. Tickets for the game are available through ualbanysports.com and at the UAlbany ticket office before the start of the contest. Courtside seats are $15, chairbacks are $10, reserved are $5 and child/senior seats are $3.
Today only for Cyber Monday, if you go through our ticket page and use the password Great Danes, you can get two tickets for the price of one.
UAlbany is coming off its first loss of the season, a 63-55 defeat at #4/5 Tennessee on Friday, to enter Tuesday's contest at 4-1 overall. Providence has won its last two games, including a 71-59 victory over Monmouth at home on Saturday, to come in at 2-3 overall.
UAlbany and Providence met for the first time on November 27th, 2013 in Rhode Island, with the Great Danes winning 70-60. This is UAlbany's lone game against a Big East opponent this year, while Providence defeated Hartford 69-50 on November 24th this season.
SHEREESHA RICHARDS - 5TH LEADING ACTIVE SCORER IN DI: With 1,769 points scored in her career, Shereesha Richards stands fifth among all active Division I players in scoring. She ranks in the top 10 among active players in another categories, including third in field goals made (691), fourth in field goal % (60.2%), seventh in free throws made (381) and seventh in steals (225).
UALBANY RISES TO #13 IN MID-MAJOR POLL: UAlbany rose to #13 in the third week of the College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top-25, released on November 24th. It is the 11th consecutive poll, dating back to last season, where the Great Danes are in the top-20 of the poll.
The Great Danes picked up 343 points in the poll, released every Tuesday. UAlbany is currently the ranked mid-major in the state of New York and the only ranked team in the America East Conference.
Last season, UAlbany was ranked in the top-25 in every mid-major poll, getting as high as #3 in the season. It finished the year at #14, earning the highest placement in the state of New York.
UALBANY PREDICTED TO FINISH FIRST IN AMERICA EAST: For the fourth-straight year, UAlbany, the 2014-15 regular season co-champion UAlbany has been predicted to finish first in the America East in the preseason coaches poll. UAlbany picked up 62 points, receiving six first place votes.
Maine, also a 2014-15 regular season co-champion, was predicted second with 58 points with two first-place votes. New Hampshire was selected third with 44 points with one first-placevote, while Stony Brook got fourth. The rest of the teams in order were Hartford, UMBC, UMass Lowell, Vermont and Binghamton.
STAR SCORERS: UAlbany is the only women's basketball program in Division I that currently has two players averaging at least 20 points a game. Imani Tate is leading the team with 21.2 points a contest, while Shereesha Richards is earning 20.2 points a game. The UAlbany season record, by Richards last year, is 21 points a game.
STAR SENIORS: UAlbany seniors Shereesha Richards and Erin Coughlin will enter their final year in a UAlbany uniform in the 2015-16 season. In their careers, UAlbany has gone a combined 83-19 overall and 45-3 in America East play, earning three conference titles.
UALBANY - 2015 AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS: Defeating Vermont, UMBC and Hartford in the title game, 2-seed UAlbany earned its fourth-straight America East Tournament title in the 2014-15 season. The team set records with 70 combined points allowed in the first two rounds and a 62.5 field goal % in the title game. UAlbany is just the second program to win four straight America East Tournaments.
RICHARDS - UALBANY ALL-TIME SCORING LEADER: Following a 28-point performance in the 2015 AE title game, Shereesha Richards surpassed Ebone Henry for the all-time scoring record at UAlbany, standing with 1,769 points in her career.
Richards joined the 1,000-point club after scoring 27 against Penn State last season on November 16th. She has averaged 17.3 points a game in her career, the highest scoring average in program history.
Henry was previously UAlbany's all-time leader, scoring 1,642 points from 2009-13.
IMANI TATE APPROACHING 1,000-POINT MARK: Imani Tate currently stands with 709 points in her career, standing 291 points away from the 1,000-point mark. Tate is looking to be the 13th player in UAlbany history to reach 1,000 points.
Last season, Tate had the fourth-highest scoring season in UAlbany history, averaging 14.2 points a game for 469 points total.
GOING FOR AMERICA EAST HISTORY: In the 2015-16 season. the UAlbany women's basketball team will look to do what no other America East team has done, win five straight conference tournament titles.
UAlbany became just the second women's basketball program to earn four straight America East titles last season, tying the achievement recorded by Maine from 1993-96.
No America East basketball program, men's or women's, has won five straight tournament titles in conference history.
SCOUTING THE PROVIDENCE FRIARS: Providence was predicted to finish 10th in the Big East in the preseason coaches poll and allows 59 points per game on defense.
A Preseason All-Big East selection, junior guard Sarah Beal stands with 11 points and five rebounds a game. With a slightly higher 11.2 points per game, junior forward Aliyah Miller shoots 44% with five boards a contest. A 53.8% three-point shooter, freshman guard Jovana “Yoyo” Nogic has the team lead in assists with 17, averaging 10.6 points a game.
