ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany women's basketball team will host crosstown rival, Siena, for the Grand Opening of Broadview Center.
As part of the Grand Opening of Broadview Center, the first 2500 fans will receive a free commemorative rally towel.
Join the Great Danes after the contest as they will be available to sign posters in the PE Building lobby.
GAME INFORMATION
Siena at UAlbany
DATE: Saturday, December 2
TIME: 5:00 PM
SITE: Broadview Center - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 4-2, 0-0 America East | Siena 2-2, 0-0 MAAC
SERIES RECORDS: UAlbany leads, 13-11
STATS:
UAlbanySports.com
STREAM:
ESPN+
INT'L STREAM:
AE.TV
TICKETS:
UAlbanySports.com
UAlbany game notes |
Siena game notes
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.
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"There has been a lot of anticipation for our players to return to play on campus and introduce the new Broadview Center to our family, friends, and fans. It is even more exciting to have our home opener against our Capital Region rival, Siena. The Saints make up a very aggressive and well-balanced team. They love to get out and run in transition and shoot threes, and they crash the offensive glass well. We need to own all the winning plays for four quarters and be locked into our defensive game plan for 40 minutes."
GREAT DANE REWIND
- UAlbany has started its season with four wins and two losses.
- The Great Danes opened their season with a down-to-the-buzzer win over Merrimack (Nov. 6) before falling to Fordham in a one-possession loss on November 10 and hosting Division III opponent Sarah Lawrence for a 91-point victory (Nov. 13).
- On a record-breaking night against the Gryphons, the Great Danes notched the highest single-game point total (118), single-half point total (61), and single-game assist total (37) in program history.
- After UAlbany took to the road to defeat St. Bonaventure, 66-56, on November 16, head coach Colleen Mullen and the Great Danes defeated Cornell (Nov. 22) for the first time in Mullen's tenure.
- Most recently, UAlbany fell to fourth-ranked Stanford in California on Sunday, November 26.
- Senior Kayla Cooper leads the Great Danes with 13.0 points per game while shooting a team-high 49.1% from the field.
- Freshman Deja Evans holds a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game and six blocks.
- Graduate student Sarah Karpell leads the team in transition with 20 assists and 11 steals.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
- Recruits Deja Evans and graduate student Sarah Karpell have become defensive anchors for the new-look UAlbany women's basketball team.
- Starting since her first collegiate game, Evans' team-high stats of 7.5 rebounds and six blocks rank third and sixth, respectively, in the America East.
- Fitting in seamlessly with UAlbany's aggressive defense, Karpell owns the team-high in steals with 11.
- The graduate transfer has started the season scoring 7.7 ppg from 48.5% shooting.
WATCH YOUR POCKETS
- UAlbany leads the America East with 59 steals (9.83 per game) and a 3.17 turnover margin.
- Turning defense into offense, the Great Danes have averaged 19.2 points off turnovers.
- Three Great Danes are ranked in the top 10 in steals in the conference:
AUTOMATIC SHOOTING
- The Great Danes are ranked second in the America East in Team 3-Point FG Percentage (36.6%).
- Accurate shooting has made UAlbany have the highest scoring offense in the conference (66.2 ppg).
- UAlbany has leaders across all the shooting categories:
MILESTONE WATCH
- Kayla Cooper is 96 points away from scoring 1,000 career points. Averaging 13.0 points this season, Cooper could reach this milestone within the next eight games.
- Cooper is one game shy of reaching 10 career 20+ point games.
- Having tallied 245 boards and 249 assists, Sarah Karpell is chasing 250 career rebounds and assists.
- Helene Haegerstrand is three starts away from recording her 100th career start for the Great Danes.
PLAY AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM
- The Great Danes have utilized great teamwork to fuel their success so far this season.
- In six contests, the Great Danes have had four different players lead the team in points.
- As a team, UAlbany's rank in the conference:
- 1st - 11.5 scoring margin
- 1st - 54.7 points per game allowed
- 1st - 15.17 assists per game
- 1st - .366 opponent FG percentage
- 1st - 66.2 points per game
- 1st - 9.83 steals per game
- 2nd - 3.2 rebounding margin
- 2nd - 3.67 blocks per game
- 2nd - .759 free throw percentage
- 2nd - 3.67 blocks per game
ABOUT SIENA
- The Saints started their season with back-to-back road victories over Binghamton (Nov. 9) and Dartmouth (Nov. 12).
- Returning home for two contests, Siena fell against Penn (Nov. 19) and Merrimack, 67-64 in overtime, earlier this week (Nov. 28).
- Four Saints lead the team with double-digit point averages. Elisa Mevius has tallied 16.0 to top the pack while Anajah Brown (11.8), Valencia Fontenelle-Posson (10.8), and Teresa Seppala (10.0) follow.
- On defense, Brown has tallied a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game and eight total blocks.
- In addition to leading in points, Mevius is the go-to player in transition with 20 steals and 16 assists.
SERIES AGAINST THE SAINTS
- The Great Danes led the all-time series, 13-11.
- The teams' last meeting was in 2022 with UAlbany coming out on top, 64-57 (Nov. 13) at Siena.
- Returning student-athlete Lilly Phillips was tied with the team-high in assists with four in the victory.
- Under head coach Colleen Mullen, the Great Danes are 2-1 against the Saints. Siena won the first contest against Mullen, 52-46, in 2019. The Massachusetts native has coached the team to two wins since (Dec. 12, 2021 & Nov. 13, 2022).
PAST CONNECTIONS
- Executive Coach for Program Development and Player Relations Gina Castelli spent 13 years at Siena, including 12 as head coach. She accumulated a program-high 336 victories and earned five MAAC Coach of the Year honors.
DRIVE THE LANE WITH UALBANY HOOPS
- UAlbany will continue its partnership with ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team and City Line Bar & Grill for the third consecutive year.
- 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 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.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- UAlbany narrowly leads the conference with four wins in six contests.
- NJIT follows with a .625 win percentage after eight games (5-3).
- Maine rounds out the top three as the final team with a winning record (4-3).
- Vermont sits just below .500 with a 3-4 record.
- Bryant and New Hampshire are tied with a 3-5 record.
- The final three teams each hold six losses. Binghamton has tallied two wins with UMBC following after one win.
- UMass Lowell rounds out the conference still fighting for their first win.
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK
- Thursday
- Dartmouth at Vermont, 6 pm
- Indiana at Maine, 7 pm
- Saturday
- CCSU at New Hampshire, 1 pm
- Maine at Fordham, 2 pm
- Sacred Heart at Bryant, 2 pm
- Siena vs UAlbany, 5 pm
- Sunday
- Holy Cross at Vermont, 12 pm
- NJIT at Maimi, 12 pm
- UMass Lowell at Boston College, 1 pm
- UMBC at Manhattan, 2 pm
- Binghamton at Pittsburgh, 6 pm
UP NEXT: The Great Danes return to two contests next week. Splitting action, they will head to CCSU (Dec. 6) before returning to host Marist for the Toys for Tots game on Saturday, December 9.
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 & Threads - @ualbanywbb
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyWBB
