ALBANY, N.Y. - The #2 UAlbany women's basketball is up north and ready to take on #1 Maine for the America East Championship Title.
Per University of Maine system guidance, UMaine Athletics will require all guests attending home hockey, basketball, and indoor track & field events to provide full proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test, which must be administered within the previous 72 hours. Patrons must have a mask in place covering their nose and mouth prior to entry to the venues.
GAME INFORMATION
#2 UAlbany at #1 Maine
DATE: Friday, March 11
TIME: 5:00 PM
SITE: Memorial Gymnasium - Orono, Maine
RECORDS: UAlbany 22-9, 13-5 America East | Maine 20-10, 15-3 America East
SERIES RECORD: 30-19, Maine leads
STATS:
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TICKETS:
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LISTEN:
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STREAM:
ESPNU
AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
*records as of 3/10
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"Maine is a terrific team. They make you pay on defensive breakdowns and use pressure defense to keep their opponents off balance. We know we need to take care of the ball and win the game of possessions. We want to play focused defense on their inside/out attack for all 40 minutes. Winning plays and overall execution are keys to our success."
GREAT DANE REWIND
- With a defense-first mentality, UAlbany is holding its opponents to just 48.6 points per game to own the second-best scoring defense in the nation.
- In addition to scoring defense, the Great Danes are 36th in the country, allowing just a .364 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.
- UAlbany split the Hartford, Vermont, and Stony Brook series and swept NJIT, Binghamton, UMBC, UMass Lowell, and New Hampshire.
- UAlbany was undefeated at home (13-0), until the second-to-last game of the season when Maine beat the Great Danes, 49-45, on February 23. They currently own a 16-1 record at SEFCU Arena.
- Closing the regular season, UAlbany came back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth beginning of the fourth quarter to beat Stony Brook, 57-56, on February 26.
- After defeating New Hampshire, 49-44, in the America East Quarterfinal (3/5), the Great Danes beat Vermont, 67-54, in the semifinal (3/8) to advance to the America East Championship for the first time since 2017.
- Junior Helene Haegerstrand (378, 12.2 per game) and sophomore Kayla Cooper (347, 11.2 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 .539 (69-128) shooting percentage, leading all players who have seen the court for more than 40 minutes this season.
- Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc with a .346 (55-141) shooting percentage.
- Cooper leads the team as the only player with over 150 rebounds. She has totaled 219 (7.1 pg) so far with 140 defensive and 79 offensive rebounds. Decortes passed the 100-rebound mark against Maine, totaling 136 so far, while Ellen Hahne notched her 100th rebound in the America East Quarterfinal, tallying 109 so far.
- Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney owns a team-high 70 assists. Freshman Lilly Phillips is close behind with 69.
- Haney (42) holds the transition spotlight with her respective steal total.
- Decortes has compiled a team-high 44 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 1,778 points scored in 31 games, the bench has tallied 508 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), almost half (32) of the 65 points scored against Canisius (12/15), and almost half (28) of the 61 points scored against New Hampshire (2/16). The bench totaled over half of the points scored in the America East Quarterfinal against New Hampshire (26 of 49 points) and the America East Semifinal against Vermont (38 of 67 points).
- As a team, UAlbany is hitting 41.0% from the field, 33.0% outside the arc, and 66.0% from the free-throw line.
- The Great Danes are averaging 57.4 points per game, 35.6 rebounds per game, and 12.9 assists per game.
2022 POSTSEASON AWARDS
ABOUT MAINE
- The Black Bears are 20-10 overall after competing with a tough non-conference slate.
- After winning its last 14 games, Maine owns a 15-3 America East record and is hosting the America East Championship.
- The Black Bears have completed seven series in the America East, sweeping New Hampshire, Vermont, Hartford, Binghamton, UAlbany, and UMBC and splitting the series against UMass Lowell, NJIT, and Stony Brook.
- Maine hosted Hartford for the AE Quarterfinal for a 63-49 win and NJIT for the AE Semifinal, taking the 72-48 victory.
- Anne Simon leads the team with 16.1 points per game (484 total). She also owns a team-high 85 steals.
- Maeve Carroll leads the Black Bear defense with 255 rebounds (8.5 per game). Her 173 defensive rebounds, 82 offensive rebounds, and 34 blocks serve as team highs.
- Tallying a .473 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 173 assists.
- As a team, Maine is hitting 41.1% from the field, 29.4% outside the arc, and 67.8% from the free-throw line.
- The Black Bears are averaging 59.2 points per game, 32.7 rebounds per game, and 14.6 assists per game.
SERIES AGAINST THE BLACK BEARS
- Maine leads the all-time series, 30-19.
- The Black Bears have won the last 11 contests with UAlbany's most recent win being a 68-54 victory on Jan. 13, 2018.
- Having played 10 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.
- This season, the Black Bears took a 64-55 win in Orono before beating UAlbany, 49-45, at SEFCU Arena for the Great Danes' sole home loss of 2021-22.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- Maine finished the season as the America East Regular Season Champions. As the first seed in the tournament, the Black Bears hosted, and beat, eighth-seeded Hartford (QF) and fourth-seeded NJIT (SF). Maine will host the conference championship.
- Stony Brook finished second in the regular season with a 14-4 record but is ineligible for the tournament.
- Vermont and UAlbany closed the regular season tied with a 13-5 conference record. In defeating the Seawolves, the Great Danes won the tiebreaker and began the tournament hosting #7 New Hampshire as the second seed.
- After defeating #6 Binghamton, the Catamounts headed to UAlbany for a semifinal matchup.
- In the semifinal matchup, #2 UAlbany beat #3 Vermont, 67-54.
- UMBC did not qualify for the tournament after tallying just two wins.
- 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 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
- Women's
- Saturday (Quarterfinals)
- #1 Maine 63, #8 Hartford 49
- #2 UAlbany 49, #7 New Hampshire 44
- #3 Vermont 71, #6 Binghamton 63
- #4 NJIT 47, #5 UMass Lowell 33
- Tuesday (Semifinals)
- #1 Maine 72, #4 NJIT 48
- #2 UAlbany 67, #3 Vermont 54
- Friday (Championship)
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
- If the Great Danes beat Maine, they will receive the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament. Watch the Selection Show on Sunday at 8 p.m. to find out where they would go.
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
