ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team is on the road for their final regular season contest.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at NJIT
DATE: Saturday, February 25
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: NJIT Wellness and Events Center - Newark, N.J.
RECORDS: UAlbany 19-10, 13-2 America East | NJIT 13-14, 8-7 America East
SERIES RECORD: 6-1, UAlbany leads
STATS: NJITHighlanders.com
TICKETS: NJITHighlanders.com
STREAM: ESPN3
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"NJIT is a strong offensive team that loves to attack the basket. We need to contain their drives and not allow second-chance opportunities. Offensively, we have to take care of the ball and make them defend our inside/out game. It will be a physical battle; we need to out-tough and out-hustle them 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 started conference play with eight-straight victories for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
• UAlbany tied a season-high with 73 points in a 73-54 win over NJIT (1/14).
• Traveling to Maine (1/28), the Great Danes saw their first conference loss in a one-point game, 50-49.
• Nearing an end to the regular season, UAlbany swept the series against New Hampshire, UMass Lowell, Binghamton, Bryant, and UMBC while splitting against Vermont and Maine. In the series against both the Black Bears and the Catamounts, each team won its home game.
• Throughout conference play, the Great Danes earned double-digit victories in eight contests - Vermont (12/29), New Hampshire (1/1), UMass Lowell (1/7), Bryant (1/11), NJIT (1/14), New Hampshire (1/25), Bryant (2/8), Binghamton (2/11).
• UAlbany's recent contest against the Bearcats resulted in the first overtime game since November 5, 2019 - a win over Columbia.
• Junior Kayla Cooper leads the team with a .498 field goal percentage and senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc (42.2%).
• Haegerstrand leads the team with 15.1 points per game. Junior Kayla Cooper is close behind with 14.9 points per game while graduate student Ellen Hahne follows with 11.6.
• On defense, Cooper owns a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game.
• Hahne owns team-highs with 66 assists and 33 steals while Haegerstrand leads with 19 blocks.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 42.1% from the field, 33.2% outside the arc, and 72.5% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 58.7 points per game and 34.7 rebounds per game with 11.7 assists per game, 6.2 steals per game, and 2.7 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT NJIT

• The Highlanders are 13-14 on the season with eight conference wins in 15 contests.
• After opening the season with a win at Rider (11/7), NJIT went on to fall against Lafayette (11/11) and Rutgers (11/13) before adding three-straight wins - St. Francis Brooklyn (11/16), CCSU (11/19), and LIU (11/22). 
• The Highlanders closed out the non-conference slate with a win over Saint Peter's (12/10) and losses to Monmouth (11/27), Fairleigh Dickinson (11/30), Norfolk State (12/3), Colgate (12/7), and Wagner (12/17).
• With just one game against UAlbany left in the regular season, NJIT has swept UMass Lowell, New Hampshire, and Binghamton while splitting the series against Maine and Bryant. Vermont and UMBC earned the series sweeps over the Highlanders.
• Kenna Squier leads the team with over 50% accuracy from the field. 
• Alejandra Zuniga (12.6), Squier (11.1), and Trinity Williams (10.0) each average double-digit points per game.
• Williams leads on defense with 5.9 rebounds per game and 37 blocks.
• Zuniga also owns the team-high 69 assists while Squier leads in transition with 36 steals.
• As a team, the Highlanders are hitting 41.1% from the field, 31.3% outside the arc, and 65.0% from the free-throw line. NJIT is averaging 60.6 points per game and 35.4 rebounds per game with 11.0 assists per game, 5.9 steals per game, and 3.4 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE HIGHLANDERS

• The Great Danes lead the all-time series, 6-1.
• Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, has led the Great Danes through three wins over NJIT.
• UAlbany swept the series against the Highlanders throughout the 2021-22 season. With both games in January, the Great Danes won, 62-54, on the road (1/15) before taking a four-point victory, 57-53, at home (1/29). 
• Earlier this season, UAlbany hosted NJIT for a double-digit victory, 74-54, on Alumnae Day (January 14).

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• Tied at 13-2, UAlbany and Vermont are in a race to finish first in the conference.
• Maine and UMBC are tied with 10 conference wins. Finished with their regular-season contests, the Retrievers are slightly behind with six losses to the Black Bears' five.
• NJIT owns an 8-7 record for fifth place. They will hold the fifth seed in the playoffs.
• Binghamton sits just below with a 6-9 conference record and will be the sixth seed in the playoffs.
• UMass Lowell and Bryant currently hold the final postseason slots tied with a 3-12 record.
• Just one win behind UML and Bryant, New Hampshire is still in the hunt for a postseason seed (2-13).

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEKEND

• Saturday
  • UMass Lowell at New Hampshire, 1 pm
  • Binghamton at Maine, 1 pm
  • UAlbany at NJIT, 2 pm
  • Bryant at Vermont, 4:30 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 are set to host the America East Quarterfinals on March 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