ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team is ready to host #7 UMass Lowell for an America East Quarterfinal.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
#7 UMass Lowell at #2 UAlbany
DATE: Wednesday, March 1
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: McDonough Sports Complex (HVCC) - Troy, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 20-10, 14-2 America East | UMass Lowell 5-21, 4-12 America East
SERIES RECORD: 19-11, UAlbany leads
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
TICKETS: UAlbanySports.com
STREAM: ESPN+
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
 
AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"UML is an athletic, scrappy team who is coming into the playoffs with a three-game win streak. We have to be locked in for 40 minutes to our game plan and play UA defense for four quarters. We want to play with toughness, execute at a high level, and own all the winning plays."
 
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.
• At the end of the regular season, UAlbany swept the series against New Hampshire, UMass Lowell, Binghamton, Bryant, UMBC, and NJIT 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 & 2/25), 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.
• With a 14-2 conference record, the Great Danes became co-regular season champions, with Vermont, and will enter the tournament as the two-seed.
• Junior Kayla Cooper leads the team with a .491 field goal percentage and senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc (41.7%).
• Haegerstrand and Cooper lead the team with 14.9 points per game. Graduate student Ellen Hahne follows with 11.6.
• On defense, Cooper owns a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game.
• Hahne owns team-highs with 68 assists and 33 steals while Haegerstrand leads with 22 blocks.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 42.1% from the field, 33.5% outside the arc, and 72.5% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 58.7 points per game and 35.1 rebounds per game with 11.7 assists per game, 6.0 steals per game, and 2.8 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT UMASS LOWELL

• The River Hawks finished the regular season 5-21 with four conference wins.
• Facing a tough non-conference schedule, UMass Lowell saw their first, and only non-conference, 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). 
• After winning their first league contest at Bryant (1/22), the River Hawks fell in six-straight games - Maine (1/25), New Hampshire (1/28), UAlbany (2/1), NJIT (2/4), Vermont (2/11), and Bryant (2/15).
• Closing America East play, UML won three-straight games against Binghamton (2/18), UMBC (2/22), and New Hampshire (2/25).
• Ivory Finley leads the team with 9.9 points per game. 
• Kaylen Banwareesingh leads the defense with 8.2 rebounds per game while Amaya Dowdy owns a team-high 49 blocks.
• Jaliena Sanchez is the best in transition, topping the team with 96 assists and 39 steals.
• As a team, the River Hawks are hitting 35.6% from the field, 27.1% outside the arc, and 74.3% from the free-throw line. UMass Lowell is averaging 53.4 points per game and 32.5 rebounds per game with 9.6 assists per game, 7.0 steals per game, and 3.6 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE RIVER HAWKS

• UAlbany leads the all-time series, 19-11.
• 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 swept the River Hawks. The Great Danes won a 24-point game on the road (1/7) before defeating UML, 57-49, at home.

 
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

• UAlbany and Vermont finished the season tied to share the America East Regular-Season Champions title. In sweeping Maine, the Catamounts won the tiebreakers and will enter the tournament as the number one seed.
• The Great Danes will host a quarterfinal game against the seventh-seeded UMass Lowell River Hawks.
• Maine finished the season with two-straight wins for a third-place seeding in the tournament. The Black Bears will host sixth-seed Binghamton.
• After not qualifying for the tournament in 2022, the final quarterfinal host is UMBC. The Retrievers finished 10-6 in conference play and will host #5 NJIT.
• Eighth-seeded Bryant will head to Vermont for its quarterfinal contest.
• New Hampshire did not qualify for the tournament after tallying just two wins.

 
AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

• Wednesday (Quarterfinals)
  • #8 Bryant at #1 Vermont, 5 pm
  • #7 UMass Lowell at #2 UAlbany, 7 pm
  • #6 Binghamton at #3 Maine, 7 pm
  • #5 NJIT at #4 UMBC, 7 pm
• Sunday (Semifinals)
  • Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed
  • Second-lowest remaining seed at second-highest remaining seed
• Friday (Championship)
  • Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed

 
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

• Should the Great Danes win, they will advance and host an America East semifinal game on Sunday, March 5.

 
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