ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team is set to return to Maine for their first regular season contest.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at Maine
DATE: Saturday, January 28
TIME: 1:00 PM
SITE: The Pit in Memorial Gymnasium - Orono, Maine
RECORDS: UAlbany 14-8, 8-0 America East | Maine 10-9, 6-1 America East
SERIES RECORD: 30-20, Maine leads
STATS: GoBlackBears.com
TICKETS: GoBlackBears.com
STREAM: ESPN3
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"Maine is a well-balanced and well-coached team. They are disciplined offensively and have a terrific inside-out attack. They have a strong inside presence and great shooters that stretch the floor. We need to play lock-down team defense with strong communication for four quarters."
 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany opened the season 3-0 with victories over Merrimack (11/11), Siena (11/13), and Navy (11/16).
• Before heading to the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament to compete against UNLV (11/25), ETSU (11/26), and Stetson (11/17), the Great Danes hosted Colgate (11/19) for their first loss of the season.
• Closing out November, UAlbany visited Canisius for its fourth victory (11/30). The Great Danes came back from a 10-point deficit in the beginning of the second half to take the 11-point victory.
• Hosting its final non-conference game of 2022, UAlbany fell in a close matchup to Cornell (12/3).
• The Great Danes saw a five-game road streak throughout December. Beginning with a win at Dartmouth (12/6) and a loss at Boston College (12/10), they defeated Stonehill (12/14) before falling to #3 Ohio State (12/16). 
• UAlbany closed the non-conference season with a loss at Syracuse (12/21).
• The Great Danes have won its last seven games to go 7-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
• UAlbany opened America East action with two double-digit wins over Vermont (12/29) and New Hampshire (1/1) before taking UMBC in an eight-point win, 61-53 (1/4).
• Returning to double-digit victories, the Great Danes took UMass Lowell (1/7), 62-38, and Bryant (1/11), 63-50.
• The Great Danes tied a season-high with 73 points in a 73-54 win over NJIT (1/14).
• Most recently, UAlbany has won two close victories over Binghamton (1/18) and New Hampshire (1/25).
• Junior Kayla Cooper leads the team with a .538 field goal percentage and senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc (41.8%).
• Haegerstrand leads the team with 15.1 points per game. Cooper (13.1) and graduate student Ellen Hahne (12.9) each average above 10 points per game.
• On defense, Cooper owns a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game.
• Hahne owns team-highs with 50 assists and 23 steals while Haegerstrand leads with 13 blocks.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 43.2% from the field, 35.5% outside the arc, and 73.9% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 59.1 points per game and 34.0 rebounds per game with 11.8 assists per game, 6.1 steals per game, and 2.5 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT MAINE

• The Black Bears are 10-9 on the season with six conference wins in seven contests.
• Maine opened the season at James Madison (11/7) with a close 60-58 win.
• After two losses against UMass (11/14) and Yale (11/19), the Black Bears traded results throughout the rest of November with wins over Northeastern (11/21) and Niagara (11/26) and losses to Kansas (11/25) and #23 Gonzaga (11/28).
• In December, Maine found just one win over Army (12/11). Seeing top schools, the team fell to Princeton (12/2), URI (12/4), Fordham (12/8), and Harvard (12/18). 
• Coming back from a short winter break, the Black Bears started conference play with four-straight victories - Bryant (12/29), UMass Lowell (1/4), NJIT (1/7), and UMBC (1/14).
• After falling to Vermont (1/18), Maine has won its last two contests over Binghamton (1/21) and UMass Lowell (1/25).
• Adrianna Smith leads the team with 15.1 points per game, 8.9 rebounds per game, 73 assists, and 23 steals.
• Abbe Laurence owns a team-high 13 blocks.
• Anne Simon follows with 10.7 points per game while Caroline Bornemann holds 6.3 rebounds per game and 20 steals.
• As a team, the Black Bears are hitting 42.1% from the field, 33.0% outside the arc, and 69.4% from the free-throw line. Maine is averaging 59.1 points per game and 33.2 rebounds per game with 13.5 assists per game, 5.9 steals per game, and 2.7 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE BLACK BEARS

• Maine leads the all-time series, 30-20.
• The Great Danes broke an 11-game win streak from the Black Bears with the America East Championship win in 2022.
• Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, owns a 1-10 record against Maine. Her first win came during the title game in 2022.
• During Mullen's time, the Black Bears have seen two semifinal wins - 2019 and 2021.
• Throughout the 2021-22 regular season, Maine swept UAlbany with wins on February 9 and February 23.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• UAlbany is the lone undefeated team in the conference with eight wins.
• Maine follows with a 6-1 America East record.
• Vermont and UMBC are tied with six wins in seven games.
• NJIT sits with an even 4-4 conference record.
• Binghamton holds three wins in eight conference contests.
• UMass Lowell and Bryant are tied with one league win in eight league games.
• New Hampshire rounds out the conference on the lookout for its first win.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Saturday
  • Vermont at UMBC, 12 pm
  • UAlbany at Maine, 1 pm
  • Binghamton at Bryant, 1 pm
  • New Hampshire at UMass Lowell, 5 pm
• Wednesday
  • UMass Lowell at UAlbany, 7 pm
  • NJIT at New Hampshire, 7 pm
  • Bryant at Maine, 7 pm
  • UMBC at Binghamton, 7 pm

 
WHAT'S UP, PRESEASON

• With seven first-place votes and 59 total points, the Great Dane women's basketball team was picked to finish first in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll. Maine was just behind them with 54 points while Vermont came in third with 46 points and one first-place vote.
• Last season's offensive and defensive leaders, respectively, Helene Haegerstrand and Kayla Cooper were named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team.
• UAlbany added three new players to the roster for the 2022-23 season - Taylor Moffat, Karyn Sanford, and Marie Sepp.

 
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 return home to face UMass Lowell on February 1.

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