ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team returns home for their National Girls and Women in Sports game.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UMass Lowell at UAlbany
DATE: Wednesday, February 1
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: McDonough Sports Complex (HVCC) - Troy, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 14-9, 8-1 America East | UMass Lowell 2-17, 1-8 America East
SERIES RECORD: 18-11, UAlbany leads
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
TICKETS: UAlbanySports.com
STREAM: ESPN+
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
 
All UAlbany students are welcome to enjoy all UAlbany Athletics events for FREE with their student ID. Come out and support the Great Danes with the scan of a card - tactile or mobile. This year, all HVCC students are welcome to UAlbany events FREE with their student ID.
 
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 started conference play with eight-straight victories 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) before defeating Binghamton (1/18) and closing the series over New Hampshire (1/25).
• Traveling to Maine (1/28), UAlbany saw its first conference loss in a one-point game, 50-49.
• Junior Kayla Cooper leads the team with a .541 field goal percentage and senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc (38.4%).
• Haegerstrand leads the team with 14.7 points per game. Cooper (13.9) and graduate student Ellen Hahne (12.5) each average above 10 points per game.
• On defense, Cooper owns a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game.
• Hahne owns team-highs with 50 assists and 24 steals while Haegerstrand leads with 15 blocks.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 43.0% from the field, 34.3% outside the arc, and 74.0% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 58.7 points per game and 33.6 rebounds per game with 11.4 assists per game, 6.1 steals per game, and 2.6 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT UMASS LOWELL

• The River Hawks are 2-17 with one conference win in nine games.
• Facing a tough non-conference schedule, UMass Lowell saw their first, and only, win in December with a 60-47 victory over CCSU (12/7).
• In November, UML tallied six losses to Boston College (11/7), #11 Indiana (11/11), Boston University (11/16), Brown (11/19), UMass (11/22), and Harvard (11/30).
• To complete the non-conference slate, the River Hawks competed against Fairleigh Dickinson (12/3), Holy Cross (12/11), and Towson (12/23).
• UMass Lowell started conference play with losses to NJIT (1/1) and Maine (1/4). Taking Maine into overtime, the River Hawks fell, 70-63, in the first overtime period.
• Since last seeing the Great Danes (1/7), UML added losses to Vermont (1/11), Binghamton (1/14), and UMBC (1/18). 
• The River Hawks won their first league contest at Bryant (1/22) but have fallen in their two most recent games against Maine (1/25) and New Hampshire (1/28).
• Ivory Finley leads the team with 9.3 points per game. 
• Kaylen Banwareesingh leads the defense with 8.0 rebounds per game while Amaya Dowdy owns a team-high 34 blocks.
• Jaliena Sanchez is the best in transition, topping the team with 69 assists and 29 steals.
• As a team, the River Hawks are hitting 35.5% from the field, 27.5% outside the arc, and 71.9% from the free-throw line. UMass Lowell is averaging 53.1 points per game and 31.6 rebounds per game with 9.9 assists per game, 7.2 steals per game, and 3.8 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE RIVER HAWKS

• UAlbany leads the all-time series, 18-11.
• Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, owns a 6-3 record against UMass Lowell during her time with the Great Danes.
• The River Hawks and the Great Danes met twice throughout the 2021-22 season.
• UAlbany won both contests in January 2022. Going on the road for the first contest, the Great Danes earned a 58-52 victory (1/12) before hosting UMass Lowell for a 56-44 win on January 26.
• Earlier this season, UAlbany traveled to Lowell for a victory on January 7. The Great Danes won a 24-point game, 62-38, with Ellen Hahne leading in points (14) and Grace Heeps leading in rebounds (6).

 
PAST CONNECTIONS

• Assistant coach Yvonne Hawkins previously coached the River Hawks' assistant coach, Stefanie Murphy-Thorpe (maiden name - Murphy). Hawkins, along with the rest of the coaching staff at Boston College, coached Murphy to win the Eagles' first ACC Rookie of the Year award in 2007.
• Head coach Colleen Mullen grew up near UMass Lowell. She would practice at Costello Athletic Center every day in the summers, attending UMass Lowell for both basketball and volleyball camps. When there wasn't an organized event taking place, the River Hawks coach would open the gym specifically for Mullen. Her family is also well-embedded within the Lowell community. Mullen's grandfather worked at the college for over 30 years while multiple aunts and uncles are alumni of UML. One of her aunts, Gail Beaudoin, is a current professor within the criminal justice department - a retired lieutenant in the Chelmsford police force, she has been teaching there for over 20 years.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• With no undefeated teams left in the conference, UAlbany remains in first with an 8-1 record.
• Maine follows closely with a 7-1 America East record.
• Vermont (7-2) and UMBC (6-3) round out the teams with winning records.
• NJIT sits with an even 4-4 conference record.
• Binghamton is just behind with a record slightly below .500 (4-5).
• New Hampshire, Bryant, and UMass Lowell all have one win with UNH holding the slight edge with seven losses to Bryant and UML's eight.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Wednesday
  • UMass Lowell at UAlbany, 7 pm
  • NJIT at New Hampshire, 7 pm
  • Bryant at Maine, 7 pm
  • UMBC at Binghamton, 7 pm
• Saturday
  • UAlbany at Vermont, 12 pm
  • Bryant at New Hampshire, 1 pm
  • Maine at UMBC, 2 pm
  • UMass Lowell at NJIT, 3 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 head on the road for two contests - Vermont (Feb. 4) and Bryant (Feb. 8).

 
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