ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team returns home to host Hartford for their Autism Awareness game on Saturday, February 5.
In addition to building awareness for Autism and those on the spectrum, the Great Danes will host several alumni on Saturday. UAlbany will honor its alumni during the contest's halftime.
Masks are required inside all buildings on campus.
GAME INFORMATION
Hartford at UAlbany
DATE: Saturday, February 5
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 15-6, 8-2 America East | Hartford 2-16, 2-5 America East
SERIES RECORD: 24-24, series tied
STATS:
UAlbanySports.com
TICKETS:
UAlbanySports.com
STREAM:
ESPN3
*records as of 2/3
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"Hartford is a tough, gritty team. In the first game, Hartford did a great job of taking us out of what we like to do. We need to be patient offensively and defend for all four quarters. We need to outwork them and own all the winning plays."
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 five losses on the road - Boston College (11/28), Cornell (11/24), Merrimack (11/16), Vanderbilt (12/8), and Hartford (1/17).
- 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.
- UAlbany closed its non-conference slate with a 41-point victory over Union (12/28).
- The Great Danes own an 8-2 conference record.
- UAlbany has beaten New Hampshire (1/8), UMass Lowell (1/12 & 1/26), NJIT (1/15 & 1/29), UMBC (1/19 & 2/2), and Binghamton (1/31) in league play.
- Sophomore Kayla Cooper (257, 12.2 per game) and junior Helene Haegerstrand (247, 11.8 per game) are neck and neck with their respective point tallies.
- Redshirt-sophomore Abby Robinson leads the team, shooting 85.7% (6-7) from 25 minutes of play in eight games. Senior Lucia Decortes holds a .580 (47-81) shooting percentage, leading all players who have seen the court for more than 40 minutes this season.
- Haegerstrand is shooting 37.4% (37-99) from outside the arc to lead the team.
- Cooper leads the team as the only player with over 100 rebounds. She has totaled 154 so far with 94 defensive and 60 offensive rebounds.
- Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney owns a team-high 51 assists. Freshman Lilly Phillips is close behind with 49.
- Cooper and Haney share the transition spotlight with 29 steals each.
- Senior Lucia Decortes has compiled a team-high 28 blocks. Eleven players on the 13-person roster have totaled at least two 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 1,227 points scored in 21 games, the bench has tallied 299 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 41.4% from the field, 32.5% outside the arc, and 64.9% from the free-throw line.
- The Great Danes are averaging 58.4 points per game, 36.4 rebounds per game, and 13.3 assists per game.
- Holding its opponents to just 48.0 points per game, UAlbany is second in the nation in scoring defense.
ABOUT HARTFORD
- The Hawks are 2-16 overall with a 2-5 America East record.
- During its non-conference slate, Hartford fell to Sacred Heart (11/10), Penn (11/14), Houston Baptist (11/18), Sam Houston (11/20), Brown (11/23), Quinnipiac (11/28), Providence (12/1), Northeastern (12/5), Rhode Island (12/8), Central Connecticut (12/17), and UMass (12/22).
- After beginning America East play with two losses - Stony Brook (1/2) and Maine (1/5) - the Hawks went on a break.
- Once they came back from their break, the Hawks beat UAlbany (1/17) before falling against New Hampshire (1/19) and Vermont, twice (1/21 & 1/23).
- On January 26, Hartford beat Binghamton in overtime, 59-57, to earn its second conference win.
- Paula Maurina leads the team with 11.6 points per game and Abby Streeter leads with 195 total (10.8 per game).
- Maurina has the most accuracy for the Hawks shooting 46.7% from the field while Streeter owns a team-high .443 shooting percentage from outside the arc.
- On the rebound, Carmen Villalobos leads with 114 rebounds (76 defensive and 38 offensive), 33 steals, and 34 assists.
- Maurina owns the team-high with 14 blocks.
- As a team, Hartford is hitting 34.7% from the field, 28.5% outside the arc, and 59.2% from the free-throw line.
- The Hawks are averaging 54.2 points per game, 36.8 rebounds per game, and 10.3 assists per game.
SERIES AGAINST THE HAWKS
- After a Hartford win earlier this season, the all-time series is tied, 24-24.
- Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, has two wins and three losses to Hartford. Her first year, 2018-19, the Great Danes saw two losses, and most recently in 2019-20, UAlbany earned two wins.
- During the 2020-21 season, the Great Danes' games against Hartford were canceled.
- Earlier during the 2021-22 season, UAlbany visited the Hawks for a 52-49 loss.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- After a nine-game win streak, Stony Brook leads the conference with a 9-1 record.
- UAlbany follows with an 8-2 America East record after winning four straight games.
- Maine and Vermont are tied with six wins each but the Black Bears have one less loss to hold third place.
- Rounding out the teams with a winning league record, NJIT is fifth (5-4).
- UMass Lowell sits even, 3-3, to take sixth-place.
- Hartford found its second America East win over Binghamton (1/16) for a 2-5 record.
- Binghamton tallied its first conference win against UMBC to move to eighth and bump New Hampshire (1-7) to ninth in the America East.
- UMBC is still in the hunt for its first league win.
- 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 the conference season.
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK
- Friday
- Maine at Binghamton, 7 pm
- Saturday
- NJIT at Stony Brook, 2 pm
- UMass Lowell at Vermont, 2 pm
- Hartford at UAlbany, 2 pm
- Sunday
- Maine at Binghamton, 12 pm
- UMBC at New Hampshire, 12 pm
- Monday
- UMass Lowell at Hartford, 6 pm
- Wednesday
- UAlbany at Maine, 7 pm
- UMBC at Hartford, 7 pm
- Vermont at Binghamton, 7 pm
- Stony Brook at UMass Lowell, 7 pm
- New Hampshire at NJIT, 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
- UAlbany will head on the road to visit Maine on Wednesday, February 9.
For more information on the University at Albany women's basketball team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanywbb
Instagram - @ualbanywbb
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyWBB
