ALBANY, N.Y. - After winning their first America East title since 2017, the UAlbany women's basketball team is headed to the NCAA Tournament.
The Great Danes were selected as the No. 16 seed and will play in the Wichita Regional. They open against No. 1 Louisville on Friday, March 18 at 6 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
Masks for fans are optional.
GAME INFORMATION
#16 UAlbany at #1 Louisville
DATE: Friday, March 18
TIME: 6:00 PM
SITE: KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.
RECORDS: UAlbany 23-9, 13-5 America East | Louisville 25-4, 16-2 ACC
SERIES RECORD: 0-0, first meeting
STATS:
NCAA
TICKETS:
UAlbanySports.com
WATCH:
ESPN2
LISTEN:
104.5 The Team
NCAA Tournament Central
*records as of 3/17
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"What an amazing opportunity for our players to compete against one of the most talented teams in the country. They have size and athleticism at every position. They play pressure defense and we need to really value the ball. Offensively, they have an inside/out attack and love to get out and score in transition. Our players have worked so hard all season. Their work ethic and unselfishness has earned them a championship and now, has earned them the chance to showcase our team's culture on the national stage."
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 .363 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 finished with 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).
- Most recently, the Great Danes were crowned America East Champions after they defeated Maine, 56-47, in the America East Final on Friday, March 13. The Great Dane win marks the first America East Championship title since 2017.
- Junior Helene Haegerstrand (386, 12.1 per game) and sophomore Kayla Cooper (355, 11.1 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 11 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 .389 (56-144) shooting percentage.
- Cooper leads the team as the only player with over 150 rebounds. She has totaled 231 (7.2 pg) so far with 150 defensive and 81 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 118 so far.
- Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney and freshman Lilly Phillips share a team-high 71 assists.
- Haney (43) holds the transition spotlight with her 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 1,834 points scored in 32 games, the bench has tallied 531 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) and the America East Final against Maine (23 of 56 points).
- As a team, UAlbany is hitting 41.0% from the field, 33.6% outside the arc, and 66.2% from the free-throw line.
- The Great Danes are averaging 57.3 points per game, 35.5 rebounds per game, and 12.8 assists per game.
2022 POSTSEASON AWARDS
ABOUT LOUISVILLE
- The Cardinals are 25-4 overall after competing with a tough conference slate.
- After losing in the ACC conference tournament, Louisville owns a 16-2 ACC record and is set to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the Wichita regional.
- Louisville was seeded No. 2 in the ACC Tournament.
- In the conference tournament, Louisville had a bye for the first two rounds opening in the quarterfinal round with a loss to the University of Miami, 61-59.
- Hailey Van Lith leads the team with 13.6 points per game (394 total).
- Emily Engstler leads the Cardinal defense with 265 rebounds (9.1 per game). Her 191 defensive rebounds, 74 offensive rebounds, 52 blocks serve as team highs. She also owns a team high with 70 steals.
- Tallying a .636 field goal percentage, Ramani Parker is the team's most accurate shooter. She also owns that title from outside the arc, shooting 66.7%.
- Kianna Smith owns a team-high 83 assists.
- As a team, Louisville is hitting 45.7% from the field, 33.6% outside the arc, and 72.1% from the free-throw line.
- The Cardinals are averaging 72.2 points per game, 39.0 rebounds per game and 15.9 assists per game.
SERIES AGAINST THE CARDINALS
- This will be the first meeting between the Louisville Cardinals and the UAlbany Great Danes.
WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Wichita Region - First Round
- Friday, March 18
- Louisville, Kentucky
- #8 Nebraska vs #9 Gonzaga, 2:30 pm
- #16 UAlbany at #1 Louisville, 6 pm
- Waco, Texas
- #10 South Dakota vs #7 Ole Miss, 1:30 pm
- #15 Hawaii at #2 Baylor, 4 pm
- Saturday, March 19
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
- #11 Villanova vs #6 BYU, 1 pm
- #14 American at #3 Michigan, 3:30 pm
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- #13 Buffalo at #4 Tennessee, 3 pm
- #12 Belmont vs #5 Oregon, 5:30 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
- If the Great Danes beat Louisville they will advance to the second round and face the winner of #8 Nebraska vs #9 Gonzaga on March 20th.
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
