ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's basketball team resumes play for the first time since Feb. 7 with a regular season two-game series at Stony Brook.
Game Info
Monday, February 22 at Stony Brook (2:00 p.m.)
Live Stats |
ESPN3
Tuesday, February 23 at Stony Brook (3:00 p.m.)
Live Stats |
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Leading the Pack
- Freshman Kayla Cooper comes into the two-game set off a career-high 12 points and seven rebounds against Binghamton
- Stony Brook ranks first in the America East with 50.7 points against, first with 38.6 rebounds and third with 59.2 points for per game.
- Ellen Hahne ranks fourth in the conference with 7.1 rebounds per game and ranks ninth with a .430 shooting percentage
- Lucia Decortes ranks third in the conference with 1.4 blocks per game
- UAlbany faces Stony Brook for the first time since they were handed a 54-49 overtime loss in the 2019-20 America East quarterfinals
Scouting Stony Brook
The Seawolves enter the final two games of the season with an 11-5 over record and 9-3 conference record that clinched them second place in the America East. Stony Brook was picked to finish second in this year's preseason coaches' poll. They earned 2019-20 America East Regular Season Champion honors before the America East Championship game against Maine was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seawolves enter Monday's contest coming off a two-game split with Maine, this season's America East Regular Season Champion. Stony Brook took the first game of the matchup 59-54 and marked the program's first win over Maine since the 2017-18 season. The Stony Brook attack is led by Asiah Dingle's 10.9 points per game and India Pagan's 10.4.
Last Time vs. Stony Brook
Facing each other in the America East Playoffs for the first time since 2013-14, No. 1 Stony Brook defeated No. 8 UAlbany 54-49 in overtime in the quarterfinals. The Great Danes held a 24-21 lead at halftime and 45-40 lead with 2:42 remaining in regulation. The Seawolves rattled off five-straight points that sent the game to overtime before they outscored UAlbany 9-4 in the overtime period and sealed their 54-49 quarterfinals victory. Since-graduated
Alexi Schecter paced all scorers with 20 points on 6-13 shooting.
Last Time Out
The Great Danes last played on Feb. 7 before the team began a two-week pause in team activities. In their last game action, UAlbany fell at Binghamton 64-52 despite a 14-point effort from
Ellen Hahne and a career-high 12 points and seven rebounds for freshman
Kayla Cooper. The Bearcats out-shot UAlbany 45.8 percent to 36.2 percent and out-rebounded 38-29. The loss was only the Great Danes' second in their past six games and the 64 Binghamton points were the most against them during that span.
Around the America East
On Friday, Binghamton became the fourth America East team to opt out of the season, joining Vermont, UMBC and Hartford. The Bearcats were in the running for No. 4 in the playoffs and as a result of the opt-out, the America East playoff bracket is finalized. No. 1 Maine and No. 2 Stony Brook earn a bye, while No. 3 UMass Lowell hosts No. 6 NJIT and No. 4 UAlbany hosts No. 5 New Hampshire. UAlbany's two-game road trip at Stony Brook will mark the final America East regular season games. The three-week tournament format is set to begin Sunday, Feb 28.
Upcoming Milestones
Milestones Reached
- Kyara Frames: 100 appearances – vs. New Hampshire, January 23, 2021
- Kyara Frames: 250 assists – at UMBC, December 19, 2020
America East Reworks Schedule
The America East revamped the basketball schedule, shifting the playoffs up one week to begin on Feb. 28. All-six remaining America East teams have locked in their seed after Binghamton joined UMBC, Vermont and Hartford as the fourth team to opt out. No. 1 Maine and No. 2 Stony Brook receive a bye, while No. 3 UMass Lowell hosts No. 6 NJIT and No. 4 UAlbany hosts No. 5 New Hampshire. The new tournament format will re-seed the teams prior to the semifinals and spread the timeline over a three-week span. The semifinals are scheduled for March 7 and the championship game is schedule for March 12 at 5:00 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Rookie of the Week
Freshman guard
Kayla Cooper won UAlbany's first America East weekly award this season, earning Rookie of the Week honors following the series at UMass Lowell. Cooper averaged 6.0 points and 5.0 rebounds of 50.0% shooting in two games, including matching her career-high 10 points in the series finale on Sunday. Cooper is the first UAlbany player to win a weekly award since
Helene Haegerstrand was named Rookie of the Week in the penultimate week of the 2019-20 regular season.
100
On January 23, 2021, senior guard
Kyara Frames made her 100th career appearance at UAlbany. Frames is one of two Great Danes on the roster with postseason tournament experience, appearing in the women's WNIT opening round game at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. At the time of her 100th appearance, Frames had started each of the previous 69 games in which she had appeared.
250
On December 19, senior guard
Kyara Frames recorded her 250th career assist. With 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter at UMBC, Frames found Haegerstrand for a layup to hit the personal milestone. Frames is just the 15th woman in program history to reach 250 assists in her career, with Ebone Henry's 254 next on the all-time list.
Down the Stretch
Against Seton Hall,
Kyara Frames scored nine of UAlbany's final 11 points, including seven-straight, and shot a perfect 6-6 from the line to clinch a five-point victory against the Pirates. UAlbany went 10-10 from the line as a team, and ultimately held Seton Hall to 35 points under their season average to date.
Helene Haegerstrand scored 26 points, a career high, on 9-11 shooting.
Double-Double II
Ellen Hahne once again recorded a double-double, her second in her first two games at UAlbany, at Seton Hall, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Hahne also added five assists on the day, as part of a 19-assist team effort against the Pirates.
Late Addition
A disruption in Saint Peter's MAAC schedule had forced the Peacocks to postpone their road series at Niagara, opening up an opportunity for the Great Danes to secure another game at home. Coming together in less than 24 hours, UAlbany added Saint Peter's to its schedule, moving the home opener up three days to December 13. Originally, the Great Danes were schedule to open at home against Marist on December 16, a game that was cancelled just before news of Saint Peter's availability broke. A day later, Saint Peter's pulled out in favor of starting their conference schedule at Iona, leaving UAlbany without an opponent for Sunday. The Great Danes, Friday evening, secured a road matchup with Seton Hall instead.
Double-Double
In her debut as a Great Dane, junior guard
Ellen Hahne scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double to lead UAlbany in both categories in their season opener at Hofstra. It mirrored the season opening double-doubles last season against Columbia, from
Alexi Schecter (31 points, 11 rebounds), and fellow Swedish national
Amanda Kantzy (10 points, 10 rebounds).
Layoff
On December 11, the UAlbany women's basketball team returned to the court for the first time since March 4, a layoff of 282 days. They were the first UAlbany team to start back up again following the shutdown. The last UAlbany team to take the field was women's lacrosse at Siena on March 11.
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 with her second year with the team and Hahne joined the team this year as a transfer from Wake Forest. The duo were teammates on Sweden's U15, U16, and U20 teams, competing in the European Championships in 2014-15 and 2018-19. They placed third together at European Championships as members of the U16 team in 2015.
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: No. 4 UAlbany will host No. 5 New Hampshire Sunday, Feb. 28 at a time TBD.
