ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team heads on the road to face Maine for the first time this season.
 
Masks and proof of a COVID-19 vaccination are required to attend UMaine's Athletic events.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at Maine
DATE: Wednesday, February 9
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: The Pit in Memorial Gymnasium - Orono, Maine
RECORDS: UAlbany 16-6, 9-2 America East | Maine 11-10, 8-3 America East
SERIES RECORD: 28-19, Maine leads
STATS: GoBlackBears.com
TICKETS: GoBlackBears.com
STREAM: ESPN+
AUDIO: GoBlackBears.com
 
*records as of 2/8
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"Maine is a well-coached, well-balanced team. We need to lock in and defend their inside-out presence and limit second-chance opportunities. Offensively, we need to take care of the ball and show composure versus their pressure defense."
 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• With a defense-first mentality, UAlbany has risen to number one in the nation, holding its opponents to just 46.9 points per game.
• In addition to scoring defense, the Great Danes are 17th in the country, allowing just a .351 field goal percentage from their opponents.
• UAlbany opened the season on a strong note, defeating Hofstra (11/10) for the first time in program history. The 29-point victory over the Pride served as the first of seven games, so far, in which the Great Danes won by at least 20 points.
• The Great Danes closed their non-conference slate with a 7-4 record.
• In the first month of the America East season, UAlbany completed the series against Hartford, UMBC, and UMass Lowell. The Great Danes split the Hartford series and swept both UMBC and UMass Lowell.
• Going undefeated (11-0) at home, all six of UAlbany's losses have been on the road.
• The Great Danes will begin their final two America East series against Maine and Vermont this week.
• Sophomore Kayla Cooper (269, 12.2 per game) and junior Helene Haegerstrand (249, 11.3 per game) lead the team with their respective point tallies.
• Redshirt-sophomore Abby Robinson leads the team, shooting 75% (6-8) from 28 minutes of play in 10 games. Senior Lucia Decortes holds a .588 (50-85) shooting percentage, leading all players who have seen the court for more than 40 minutes this season.
• Haegerstrand is shooting 36.3% (37-102) from outside the arc to lead the team.
• Cooper leads the team as the only player with over 100 rebounds. She has totaled 162 so far with 99 defensive and 63 offensive rebounds. 
• Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney owns a team-high 53 assists. Freshman Lilly Phillips is close behind with 51.
• Cooper and Haney share the transition spotlight with 32 steals each. 
• Senior Lucia Decortes has compiled a team-high 32 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 - Hofstra. 
• Of the 1,280 points scored in 22 games, the bench has tallied 320 points. This includes half (26) of the 52 points scored at Merrimack (11/16), almost half (29) of the 60 points scored against Bryant (12/1), and almost half (32) of the 65 points scored against Canisius (12/15).
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 41.5% from the field, 32.3% outside the arc, and 65.0% from the free-throw line. 
• The Great Danes are averaging 58.2 points per game, 36.2 rebounds per game, and 13.4 assists per game.

 
ABOUT MAINE

• The Black Bears are 11-10 overall after competing with a tough non-conference slate.
• After winning its last five games, Maine owns an 8-3 America East record.
• The Black Bears have completed four series in the America East, sweeping New Hampshire, Vermont, and Binghamton and splitting the series against UMass Lowell.
• A win against Hartford (1/5) and two losses against NJIT (1/2) and Stony Brook (1/9) complete the Black Bears schedule to this date.
• Anne Simon leads the team with 16.1 points per game (339 total). She also owns a team-high 67 steals.
• Maeve Carroll leads the Black Bear defense with 174 rebounds (8.3 per game). Her 126 defensive rebounds, 48 offensive rebounds, and 21 blocks serve as team highs.
• Tallying a .432 field goal percentage, Alba Orois is the team's most accurate shooter, while Caroline Bornemann (36.9%) takes that title from outside the arc.
• Orois owns a team-high 112 assists.
• As a team, Maine is hitting 38.6% from the field, 27.6% outside the arc, and 63.5% from the free-throw line.
• The Black Bears are averaging 56.1 points per game, 33.0 rebounds per game, and 13.5 assists per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE BLACK BEARS

• Maine leads the all-time series, 28-19.
• The Black Bears have won the last nine contests with UAlbany's most recent win being a 68-54 victory on Jan. 13, 2018.
• Having played eight games against Maine, including two America East semifinal contests, current head coach Colleen Mullen hopes to win her first game against Maine.
• During Mullen's time, the Great Danes and the Black Bears have gone head-to-head in the America East semifinal twice - 2019 & 2021. In both contests, Maine earned the victory.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• After a 10-game win streak, Stony Brook leads the conference with a 10-1 record.
• UAlbany follows with a 9-2 America East record after winning five straight games.
• With an 8-3 conference record and a five-game win streak, Maine is in third place.
• Vermont rounds out the top-four with a 7-4 league record.
• NJIT (5-5) and UMass Lowell (4-4) sit even to tie for fifth place.
• Hartford found its second America East win over Binghamton (1/16) and has a 2-7 record.
• UMBC tallied its first conference win to move to eighth and bump Binghamton (1-8) and New Hampshire (1-8) down a slot.
• 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

• 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
• Saturday
  • Binghamton at New Hampshire, 12 pm
  • Vermont at UAlbany, 1 pm
  • NJIT at Hartford, 2 pm
  • Maine at Stony Brook, 2 pm
  • UMass Lowell at UMBC, 3:30 pm
• Monday
  • UAlbany at Vermont, 12 pm
  • New Hampshire at Hartford, 3 pm
  • Stony Brook at UMBC, 5 pm
  • Binghamton at UMass Lowell, 5 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 return home to host Vermont on Saturday, February 12 before heading to Burlington to play the Catamounts on February 14.

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