ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team will open their America East slate at home against New Hampshire.
 
Masks are required inside all buildings on campus.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
New Hampshire at UAlbany
DATE: Saturday, January 8
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 7-4, 0-0 America East | New Hampshire 3-9, 0-1 America East
SERIES RECORD: 26-18, UAlbany leads
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
TICKETS: UAlbanySports.com
STREAM: ESPN3
 
*records as of 1/6
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"We are eager to open up conference play in SEFCU Arena. New Hampshire is a blue-collar team that likes to change defenses and play pressure defense.  We need to take care of the ball, rebound on both ends, and play with toughness for 40 minutes."
 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany opened the season with a 29-point victory over Hofstra (11/10), beating the Pride for the first time in program history.
• The Great Danes collected a win against Colgate (12/5) on the road after defeating Bryant at home (12/1).
• UAlbany has four losses on the road - Boston College (11/28), Cornell (11/24), Merrimack (11/16), and Vanderbilt (12/8).
• Before taking a holiday break, the Great Danes defeated Siena for the Albany Cup on December 12, Canisius on December 15, and Central Connecticut State on December 21.
• Most recently, UAlbany closed its non-conference slate with a 41-point victory over Union (12/28).
• Junior Helene Haegerstrand leads the team with 130 points (11.8 per game), shooting a team-high 43.5% (20-46) from outside the arc.
• Redshirt-sophomore Abby Robinson leads the team, shooting 83.3% (5-6) from 20 minutes of play in seven games. Senior Lucia Decortes holds a 61.7% (29-47) from the field, leading all players who have seen the court for more than 40 minutes games this season.
• On the rebound, sophomore Kayla Cooper leads the team with 70 (6.4 per game). Cooper also leads with 44 defensive rebounds while Decortes leads with 28 offensive rebounds.
• Freshman Lilly Phillips and redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney own a team-high 26 assists each.
• Senior Ellen Hahne and Phillips are tied with a team-high 15 steals.
• Decortes owns a team-high 13 blocks while Haegerstrand (7), Cooper (5), Hahne (3), Heeps (2), Werth (2), and Robinson (2) have tallied multiple blocks.
• Every single player from the 13-person roster saw action and contributed with a point or an assist in the season-opening game. 
• Of the 676 points scored in 11 games, the bench has tallied 164 points. This includes half (26) of the 52 points scored at Merrimack, almost half (29) of the 60 points scored against Bryant, and almost half (32) of the 65 points scored against Canisius.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 40.8% from the field, 34.8% outside the arc, and 67.9% from the free-throw line. 
• The Great Danes are averaging 61.5 points per game, 38.6 rebounds per game, and 14.1 assists per game.

 
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE

• The Wildcats are 3-9 overall with a 0-1 America East record.
• New Hampshire opened the season on the road, falling to No. 9 Iowa (11/9), before winning its first game at home against Dartmouth (11/13).
• After falling at Northeastern (11/17) and Wagner (11/28) and beating Fisher (11/21) and Siena (11/23), the Wildcats closed their first month of competition with a 3-3 record.
• Beginning with a loss against Bryant (12/4), New Hampshire was unable to earn a win in December, falling to Holy Cross (12/8), Boston U. (12/13), and Merrimack (12/22).
• The Wildcats opened America East play with a loss to Vermont on January 5 after taking a loss against Boston C. (1/1) to start out the New Year.
• Amanda Torres leads the team with 11.8 points per game (142 total). She also owns a team-high 21 steals.
• Ivy Gogolin has the most accurate shooting percentage, making 48% of her shots from the field. Héléna Delaruelle leads with 32.1% accuracy from outside the arc.
• Delaruelle leads the team with 5.1 rebounds per game and 32 assists. Her 23 offensive rebounds, 38 defensive rebounds, and 61 total rebounds serve as team-highs.
• Brooke Kane and Bella Stuart share the spotlight with four blocks each.
• As a team, New Hampshire is hitting 33.9% from the field, 23% outside the arc, and 68% from the free-throw line.
• The Wildcats are averaging 53.5 points per game, 32.8 rebounds per game, and 10.6 assists per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS

• The Great Danes hold the lead in the all-time series, 26-18.
• Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, owns a 5-2 series record against New Hampshire.
• Her first year, 2018-19, the Great Danes saw two wins, but the Wildcats came back with their own two wins during the 2019-20 season.
• Most recently, UAlbany saw three wins over New Hampshire during the 2020-21 season, including a 49-43 win to advance to the America East Semifinal.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• NJIT leads the conference with a 2-0 America East record.
• Maine follows with two wins and one loss.
• Stony Brook and Vermont sit even with 1-1 records each.
• New Hampshire (0-1) and Hartford (0-2) began their conference season without a win.
• UAlbany, Binghamton, UMass Lowell, and UMBC have yet to begin their conference schedule.
• Following the close of the non-conference season Stony Brook (9-1), UAlbany (7-4), and Vermont (6-5) were the only three teams with a winning record. NJIT (5-6), Binghamton (4-6), UMass Lowell (3-6), Maine (3-7), New Hampshire (3-8), UMBC (1-9), and Hartford (0-11) each had losing records before the start of conference season.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Saturday
  • UMBC at UMass Lowell, postponed
  • Hartford at Vermont, postponed
  • NJIT at Binghamton, 2 pm
  • New Hampshire at UAlbany, 2 pm
• Sunday
  • Stony Brook at Maine, 1 pm
• Wednesday
  • NJIT at UMBC, 11 am
  • Vermont at Stony Brook, 6:30 pm
  • Binghamton at Hartford, 7 pm
  • UAlbany at UMass Lowell, 7 pm
  • Vermont at Stony Brook, 7 pm
• Thursday
  • New Hampshire at Maine, 7 pm

 
WHAT'S UP, PRESEASON

• The Great Dane women's basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll. With six first-place votes and 78 total points, Stony Brook was voted to finish first with Maine just behind (74 points, three first-place votes). 
• UAlbany added four new players to the roster for the 2021-22 season - Koi Sims, Lilly Phillips, Abby Ray, and Freja Werth

 
DRIVE THE LANE WITH UALBANY HOOPS

• UAlbany has expanded its partnership with ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team and City Line Bar & Grill.
• Coaches Colleen Mullen and Dwayne Killings, along with select student-athletes, will join ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team's Charlie Voelker and Dan Bahl every Monday from 6-7 pm live from City Line Bar & Grill for a weekly segment entitled 'Drive the Lane with UAlbany Hoops'.
• Fans are invited to come out to City Line Bar & Grill to join Coach Mullen, Coach Kills, the student-athletes, and the ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team crew. 
• Food and drink specials will be available on a weekly basis as the teams embark on their new seasons and talk hoops every Monday.

 
UP NEXT

• The Great Danes will continue their conference schedule on the road at UMass Lowell on Wednesday, January 12.