ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany women's basketball team is set to start the WNIT Tournament at UMass.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at UMass
DATE: Friday, March 17
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: Mullins Center - Amherst, Mass.
RECORDS: UAlbany 22-11, 14-2 America East | UMass 26-6, 14-2 Atlantic 10
SERIES RECORD: 0-0, first meeting
STATS: UMassAthletics.com
TICKETS: UMassAthletics.com
STREAM: ESPN3
INT'L STREAM: Not available
 
HEAD COACH COLLEEN MULLEN
"UMass is an athletic team with a high-powered offense. We need to control the tempo and slow down their fast-paced style of play. Controlling the glass and limiting turnovers will be keys to a win. It's been an exciting and successful year for our team. It's an honor to play in March and the players have certainly worked hard all season to earn this postseason berth in the WNIT. We are very thankful to have another opportunity to play together tomorrow night."
 
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 a victory (11/30) before falling in a close matchup against 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 made a statement in their first America East game, beating Vermont (12/29) at home by 14 points, sparking an eight-game win streak, which included a 25-point win over New Hampshire (1/1) on the road. 
• 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, and closed the longest win streak since the 2015-16 season.
• Returning home, UAlbany tallied a victory over UMass Lowell (2/1) before falling on the road to Vermont (2/4) in a nail-biter. 
• The Great Danes finished out conference play, 5-0, including a thrilling overtime win over Binghamton (2/11) - the first overtime game since a win over Columbia in November 2019.  
• In the regular season, UAlbany picked up nine double-digit wins and didn't lose a single series. 
• Finishing the season with a record of 14-2, the Great Danes shared the America East Regular-Season Champion title with Vermont and entered the tournament as the two-seed. 
• After defeating #7 UMass Lowell, 59-51, in the America East Quarterfinal round (3/1), and #3 Maine, 72-64, in the semifinals (3/5), UAlbany fell to first-seeded Vermont, 38-36, in the America East Championships (3/10).
• Shooting 50% from the field on 264 attempts, junior Kayla Cooper leads the team in field goal percentage, while senior Helene Haegerstrand leads from behind the arc with 40.5%.
• Three Great Danes have averaged over 10 points this season: Cooper (15.1), Haegerstrand (14.4), and Hahne (11.5). 
• On the defensive end, Cooper averages 8.2 rebounds per game to lead the team.
• Hahne owns team-highs with 74 assists and 36 steals while Haegerstrand and graduate student Lucia Decortes lead with 23 blocks each.
• As a team, UAlbany is hitting 41.9% from the field, 33.6% outside the arc, and 72.7% from the free-throw line. The Great Danes are averaging 58.4 points per game and 34.9 rebounds per game with 11.8 assists per game, 6.1 steals per game, and 2.9 blocks per game.

 
ABOUT UMASS

• The Minutewomen are 26-6 on the season with a 14-2 record in the Atlantic 10.
• UMass worked to finish first in their conference to become the A10 Regular Season Champions.
• The Minutewomen opened the season with seven wins and one loss in November. After a season-opening victory over CCSU (11/7), UMass fell to #5 Tennessee on the road (11/10).
• Seeing seven-straight wins, the Minutewomen collected victories over Maine (11/14), Harvard (11/18), UMass Lowell (11/22), Drake (11/25), FIU (11/27), Yale (11/30), and Arizona State (12/2).
• Despite two losses to Missouri (12/3) and Columbia (12/10), UMass went on to close the non-conference schedule with wins over Saint Peter's (12/21) and Dartmouth (12/28).
• Seeing each of the A10 schools at least once, the Minutewomen defeated each team except for Saint Louis (2/22). 
• Competing against Rhode Island and Fordham twice, UMass swept Fordham and split the games against URI.
• Throughout the Atlantic 10 schedule, the Minutewomen notched 10 double-digit victories with three games determined by four or less points.
• Earning the one seed in the A10 Championship Tournament, UMass defeated #9 George Mason (3/3) in the quarterfinals before taking down #5 Richmond (3/4) in the semifinals. In the championship game, the Minutewomen fell to #3 Saint Louis, 91-85, in overtime (3/5).
• With four scorers averaging in the double-digits, Sam Breen leads with 17.5 points per game. Sydney Taylor (15.9), Ber'Nyah Mayo (12.8), and Destiney Philoxy (10.8) follow behind Breen.
• Breen also leads on defense with 10.1 rebounds per game.
• Angelique Ngalakulondi owns a team-high 29 blocks.
• In transition, Philoxy leads with 162 assists and Mayon owns a team-high 81 steals.
• As a team, the Minutewomen are hitting 44.1% from the field, 35.1% outside the arc, and 73.1% from the free-throw line. UMass is averaging 76.0 points per game and 40.3 rebounds per game with 18.0 assists per game, 8.5 steals per game, and 2.6 blocks per game.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE MINUTEWOMEN

• This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

 
PAST CONNECTIONS

• Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for UMass, Cassandra Callaway, graduated college as a Great Dane. During her time at UAlbany, she helped the team earn its first winning season since becoming a Division I program (2010-11) before the Great Danes notched their first NCAA Tournament berth in 2011-12. She finished her three-year career at UAlbany with 625 points, 116 assists, 81 steals, and 44 starts.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• Two teams from the America East Conference remain in play - Vermont and UAlbany.
• The Catamounts will play two-seed UConn on Saturday, March 18 in Storrs, Conn. in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Great Danes earned the automatic bid to the WNIT Tournament and will play UMass on Friday, March 17.

 
WNIT FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
*view the full bracket here

• Wednesday
  • Syracuse 84, Kent State 56
  • Nebraska 74, Missouri State 65
• Thursday
  • Liberty at Bowling Green, 6 pm
  • Morgan State at Wake Forest, 6 pm
  • Penn at Richmond, 6 pm
  • Wofford at Florida, 6 pm
  • Belmont at Ball State, 6:30 pm
  • Colorado State at Northern Iowa, 7 pm
  • Drexel at Fordham, 7 pm
  • High Point at Clemson, 7 pm
  • Saint Joseph's at Seton Hall, 7 pm
  • Towson at Harvard, 7 pm
  • UTEP at Texas Tech, 7 pm
  • Wichita State at Kansas State, 7 pm
  • Texas State at Stephen F. Austin, 7:30 pm
  • Illinois State at Missouri, 8 pm
  • Jackson State at Memphis, 8 pm
  • Little Rock at SMU, 8 pm
  • Louisiana Tech at Arkansas, 8 pm
  • Niagara at Green Bay, 8 pm
  • Long Beach State at San Diego, 9 pm
  • Northern Arizona at New Mexico, 9 pm
  • San Francisco at Washington, 10 pm
• Friday
  • Boston at Rhode Island, 6 pm
  • Western Kentucky at Kansas, 6 pm
  • Fairleigh Dickinson at Columbia, 7 pm
  • UAlbany at UMass, 7 pm
  • Tulane at Auburn, 8 pm
  • Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Wyoming, 8:30 pm
  • Rice at BYU, 9 pm
  • UC Irvine at San Diego State, 9 pm
  • North Dakota State at Oregon, 10 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

• Should the Great Danes win, they will advance to the Second Round of the WNIT Tournament. Where and when will be determined following the conclusion of the First Round. Second Round games will take place March 18-21.

 
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