ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team continues on the road at Bryant.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at Bryant
DATE: Wednesday, February 8
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: Chace Athletic Center - Smithfield, Rhode Island
RECORDS: UAlbany 15-10, 9-2 America East | Bryant 7-17, 1-10 America East
SERIES RECORD: 2-1, UAlbany leads
STATS: BryantBulldogs.com
TICKETS: BryantBulldogs.com
STREAM: ESPN+
INT'L STREAM: AE.TV
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"Bryant is a scrappy team that likes to pressure opponents and change up defensive looks. They have a nice inside-out attack and we will focus on defending their inside presence and limiting their open looks from beyond their arc. We need to put a solid four quarters together tomorrow night on both ends of the floor."
 
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.
• Closing the UMass Lowell series, the Great Danes defeated the River Hawks (2/1) and swept the series.
• Most recently, UAlbany fell to Vermont (2/4) on the road, 53-49.
• Junior Kayla Cooper leads the team with a .507 field goal percentage and senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from outside the arc (39.5%).
• Haegerstrand leads the team with 14.8 points per game. Cooper (13.9) and graduate student Ellen Hahne (12.3) each average above 10 points per game.
• On defense, Cooper owns a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game.
• Hahne owns team-highs with 56 assists and 26 steals while Haegerstrand leads with 16 blocks.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 42.5% from the field, 33.9% outside the arc, and 73.0% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 58.2 points per game and 33.9 rebounds per game with 11.3 assists per game, 6.3 steals per game, and 2.6 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT BRYANT

• The Bulldogs are 7-17 with one conference win in 11 games.
• After opening the season with two wins against Dartmouth (11/7) and Emerson (11/12), Bryant fell in four-straight games - Pittsburgh (11/16), Penn State (11/18), Loyola (Md.) (11/21), and Weber State (11/25).
• Closing out the non-conference schedule, the Bulldogs added wins against Hartford (11/26), Sacred Heart (12/7), and Mitchell (12/18) with losses to Providence (11/27), CCSU (12/3), and Stonehill (12/11). 
• In its first year in the America East, Bryant faced Maine (12/29), Binghamton (1/1), Vermont (1/4), UMBC (1/7), and UAlbany (1/11) before seeing their first victory over New Hampshire (1/14). 
• In two conference games, the Bulldogs finished the game down by one point - Binghamton (57-56) and Vermont (68-67 - OT).
• Adding a second overtime finish, Bryant fell at NJIT (1/18).
• Before adding a victory against Hartford (1/24), the Bulldogs fell against UMass Lowell (1/22).
• Bryant closed the series against New Hampshire (2/4) with a win and against Maine (2/1) and Binghamton (1/28) with losses.
• With a 48.8% accuracy from the field, Mariona Planes Fortuny leads the team with 15.7 points per game. Planes Fortuny also leads with 41 blocks.
• Kemari Reynolds leads in transition with 64 assists and 35 steals.
• Nicole Gallagher owns a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.
• As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting 39.5% from the field, 32.5% outside the arc, and 74.3% from the free-throw line. Bryant is averaging 63.5 points per game and 38.1 rebounds per game with 11.8 assists per game, 7.9 steals per game, and 3.6 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE BULLDOGS

• UAlbany leads the series, 2-1.
• Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, is the only coach to lead the Great Danes in games against Bryant.
• The series began in 2019-20 with a UAlbany loss, 68-55, on the road on December 20, 2019. 
• The Great Danes followed up with a win, 60-34, at home on December 1, 2021.
• Earlier this season, for their first America East matchup against each other, UAlbany defeated Bryant, 63-50, on January 11.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• With no undefeated teams left in the conference, UAlbany remains in first with a 9-2 record.
• Maine and Vermont are tied for second with an 8-2 America East record.
• UMBC and NJIT both have four losses but the Retrievers hold the slight edge with seven wins while the Highlanders have six.
• Binghamton sits with an even 5-5 record.
• New Hampshire holds a slight advantage (2-8) over Bryant and UMass Lowell, who each have a 1-10 record.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Wednesday
  • Maine at Vermont, 6 pm
  • UAlbany at Bryant, 7 pm
  • New Hampshire at Binghamton, 7 pm
  • MBC at NJIT, 7 pm
• Saturday
  • UMBC at Bryant, 1 pm
  • NJIT at Maine, 1 pm
  • Vermont at UMass Lowell, 1 pm
  • Binghamton at UAlbany, 4 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 for their Breast Cancer Awareness game against Binghamton on Saturday (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