ALBANY, N.Y. – A tumultuous and unprecedented offseason will soon come to a close when the University at Albany women's basketball team returns to the court to open their 2020-21 campaign at Hofstra on Friday. 
 
Game Info
Friday, December 11 at Hofstra (3:00 p.m.)
Live Stats | FloHoops
 
Leading the Pack

• The Great Danes finally open their 2020-21 season, having made alterations to each of their first four originally scheduled games
• The women last played at Stony Brook on March 4, a layoff of 282 days
• The last UAlbany team to play in a game was women's lacrosse at Siena on March 11
• UAlbany enters year three under head coach Colleen Mullen
• UAlbany returns nine of 13 players from last season, including three starters
• UAlbany is 8-12 in season openers in the Division I era

 
Scouting Hofstra
The Pride are off to a 1-2 start under second year head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson, opening the season with a victory at Army West Point before dropping two straight at Pittsburgh and vs. Fairfield in the team's home opener this week.  Hofstra is 5-0 against UAlbany since the first meeting between the two programs during the 2000-01 season.  The Pride brought in four transfer players this year, including two from the University of Pittsburgh, who collectively account for nearly half of the team's scoring and rebounding.
 
Last Time vs. Hofstra
Friday will be the first meeting between UAlbany and Hofstra since December 2, 2014 when the Pride defeated the Great Danes in Albany by a score of 65-55.  Shereesha Richards led UAlbany with 22 points on 9-13 shooting with eight rebounds, but Hofstra shot 11-18 from three and locked down the rest of UAlbany's scoring.  Margarita Rosario was the only other Great Dane in double-figures, scoring 10 points.  UAlbany committed 25 turnovers in the game, leading to 28 Hofstra points, nullifying the Great Danes' 28-18 advantage in paint scoring.
 
Last Time Out
The last time we saw the UAlbany women's basketball team was March 4, 2020 in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament, facing off against top-seed and 2019-20 regular season champion Stony Brook.  The Great Danes had lost both games to the Seawolves during the regular season, 73-53 at home and 53-44 on the road in the regular-season finale.  With a break of just three days between games, the Great Danes' defense held Stony Brook to 1-17 shooting from three, while Alexi Schecter paced the team with 20 points.  UAlbany led by three at halftime, and by two after three quarters.  Stony Brook ultimately forced overtime as time wound down and pulled away from the Great Danes to claim a 54-49 victory and end UAlbany's 2019-20 season.
 
Around the America East
Though the season kicked off on November 25, the stop-and-start nature of the 2020-21 season has seen just six of the America East's now 10 member institutions (NJIT joined the conference in July) play games.  The newly-joined Highlanders sit atop the conference standings with New Hampshire, having already played their two-game series against one another this year, splitting both games.  Stony Brook, defending conference champions, are 1-2 in third place.  Binghamton, UMass Lowell, and UMBC are winless so far this season, though of the three, UMBC is the only team to have played multiple games as of Friday.  Finally, UAlbany sits as one of four teams to have yet to play a game, with Maine, Hartford, and Vermont.
 
Friday's America East Games
UAlbany at Hofstra, 3:00 p.m.
Maine at Rhode Island, 6:00 p.m.
NJIT at Fairleigh Dickinson, 7:00 p.m.
 
Upcoming Milestones
Kyara Frames: 91 appearances, 743 points, 240 assists
 
Late Start
December 11 is the latest date on record that the UAlbany women's basketball team has played its first game.  In prior years, the Great Danes have started as late as November 25, most recently in 1986.
 
Preseason Disruptions
Since returning to campus, the Great Danes have seen their team activities interrupted multiple times due to COVID-19 protocols.  On September 11, a cluster of presumptive positive cases within the UAlbany athletics community paused all athletic-related activities for a total of 24 days, with full activities not resuming for another seven when the pause was finally lifted.  On November 10, an increase in cases within the campus community triggered SUNY's remote learning protocols, including pausing athletics activities.  The women returned to practice on November 25.  Less than a week later, the women had to pause again after presumptive positive tests within the team's Tier 1 personnel, before returning to practice on December 4.
 
Captains
This year, the team has selected three captains to lead the program through the unprecedented 2020-21 season.  Redshirt-senior guard Khepera Stokes, senior guard Kyara Frames, and sophomore forward Helene Haegerstrand will take up leadership roles for the Great Danes this year.  Stokes and Frames are the longest-tenured Great Danes in the program, and the only two on the roster with postseason experience in the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT.
 
Reunited
Swedish nationals Helene Haegerstrand and Ellen Hahne have reunited as teammates at UAlbany after playing together previously on Sweden's national team.  Haegerstrand is a sophomore this season and in her second year with the team and Hahne joined the team this year as a transfer from Wake Forest.
 
Last Holdout
Redshirt-senior Khepera Stokes is the only player on the roster who was a member of the Great Danes' last America East title and NCAA appearance.  Stokes was a freshman when UAlbany defeated Maine 66-50 in the 2016-17 America East finals to win the program's sixth-straight conference championship.  Stokes appeared in all 33 games for UAlbany that season, starting 19 after moving into the starting lineup halfway through the season.  She finished the year with 95 assists, second in program history for a freshman, behind only then-teammate Mackenzie Trpcic, who finished the year with 103.
 
First Years
Including this year's seven new recruits, 13 of 16 players on the roster have just one year or fewer in the program.  Only Khepera Stokes, Kyara Frames, and Lucia Decortes have two or more seasons under their belts.  Only Stokes and Frames have made postseason appearances in the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT.
 
Transfers
In addition to a freshman class of four, UAlbany welcomes three transfer players in guards Ellen Hahne (Wake Forest), Grace Heeps (UMass), and Fatima Lee (Providence).  Heeps hails locally from East Greenbush, N.Y., and played high school at Northfield Mount Herman.
 
Roster Changes
The Great Danes return three starters from last season, but will have to replace top scorer Alexi Schecter and top rebounder Amanda Kantzy, who combined accounted for 38% of UAlbany's total scoring.  Returning this year are second and third leading scorers Helene Haegerstrand and Kyara Frames, as well as fifth-year senior guard Khepera Stokes.  Stokes is the only player on the team this season who appeared and started in all 30 games for UAlbany last season.
 
Picked Fourth
The Great Danes were selected to finish fourth in this year's America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.  UAlbany drew 54 points overall, clear of Binghamton and UMBC's 53, tying for fifth.  Ahead of UAlbany was Maine (78 points and six first-place votes), Stony Brook (76 points and four first-place votes) and UMass Lowell.
 
America East Announces Basketball Schedule Format
On October 19, 2020, the America East debuted its revised schedule format for the 2020-21 season.  The conference season will begin on December 19-20, with teams playing back-to-back games at the same site against the same opponent on Saturdays and Sundays.  There are built-in off weekends to accommodate potential postponements throughout the season.  It will also be the first year that the conference schedule expands to 18 games to account for NJIT joining the conference.
 
Next: UAlbany is scheduled to visit Marist for the first leg of a back-to-back home-and-home series with the Red Foxes starting December 15.