ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team is headed on the road to face UMass Lowell.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at UMass Lowell
DATE: Saturday, January 7
TIME: 1:00 PM
SITE: Costello Athletic Center - Lowell, Mass.
RECORDS: UAlbany 9-8, 3-0 America East | UMass Lowell 1-11, 0-2 America East
SERIES RECORD: 17-11, UAlbany leads
STATS: GoRiverHawks.com
TICKETS: GoRiverHawks.com
STREAM: ESPN3
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"UML is an athletic team with many scoring threats. They have played a very tough non-conference schedule that has prepared them to compete against every opponent in the America East. We have to contain their guards and finish every possession with a box out. We need to execute the scout and compete on both ends for 40 minutes."
 
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), UAlbany defeated Stonehill (12/14) before falling to #3 Ohio State (12/16). 
• The Great Danes closed the non-conference season with a loss at Syracuse (12/21).
• In the first week of conference play, UAlbany opened with a 60-46 victory over Vermont (12/29) before defeating New Hampshire, 71-46, on the road (1/1).
• Most recently, the Great Danes earned a close victory, 61-53, against UMBC (1/4).
• Junior Kayla Cooper leads the team with a .558 field goal percentage and senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc (38.8%).
• Ellen Hahne leads the team with 14.1 points per game, 39 assists, and 14 steals.
• Senior Grace Heeps and Haegerstrand are tied with a team-high six blocks.
• Cooper owns a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game from six contests. Hahne follows with 5.7 rebounds per game.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 42.4% from the field, 32.8% outside the arc, and 73.4% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 57.3 points per game and 32.6 rebounds per game with 11.5 assists per game, 5.4 steals per game, and 1.9 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT UMASS LOWELL

• The River Hawks are 1-11 with two conference losses.
• 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).
• In the last week, 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.
• Jaini Edmonds and Ivory Finley lead the team with 9.6 points per game. Finley has also totaled a team-high 19 steals.
• Kaylen Banwareesingh leads the defense with 7.9 rebounds per game while Amaya Dowdy owns a team-high 18 blocks.
• Jaliena Sanchez is the team's top feeder with 43 assists.
• As a team, the River Hawks are hitting 34.6% from the field, 26.3% outside the arc, and 74.2% from the free-throw line. New Hampshire is averaging 52.7 points per game and 31.8 rebounds per game with 9.5 assists per game, 7.6 steals per game, and 3.4 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE RIVER HAWKS

• UAlbany leads the all-time series, 17-11.
• Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, owns a 5-3 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.

 
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 three undefeated teams in the conference, UAlbany is in the lead with three wins. NJIT and Maine follow with two each.
• Binghamton and UMBC each hold winning records with two wins and one loss.
• Vermont holds a 1-2 America East record.
• UMass Lowell (0-2), Bryant (0-3), and New Hampshire (0-3) are looking for their first conference wins.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Saturday
  • UAlbany at UMass Lowell, 1 pm
  • New Hampshire at Vermont, 1 pm
  • Bryant at UMBC, 2 pm
  • Maine at NJIT, 2 pm
• Wednesday
  • UMass Lowell at Vermont, 11 am
  • Bryant at UAlbany, 7 pm
  • NJIT at Binghamton, 7 pm
  • Maine at New Hampshire, 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 host Bryant on January 11.

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