ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany women's basketball team will head on the road to take on Binghamton on Saturday.
GAME INFORMATION
UAlbany at Binghamton
DATE: Saturday, January 13
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Dr. Bai Lee Court - Vestal, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 13-2, 3-0 America East | Binghamton 5-10, 0-2 America East
SERIES RECORDS: 48-27, UAlbany leads
STATS:
BUBearcats.com
STREAM:
ESPN+
INT'L STREAM:
AE.TV
TICKETS:
BUBearcats.com
Game Notes (PDF)
A WEEK IN REVIEW
- Last week, the Great Danes earned their first two conference victories of the season.
- Defeating Bryant, 69-50, on Thursday, senior Kayla Cooper led the charge scoring 18 points while also bringing in four rebounds.
- Seven student-athletes shot at least 50% from the field in the winning effort.
- UAlbany outmatched NJIT with a 41-point victory on Saturday with four Great Danes recording double-digit scores.
- In a great all-around game for freshman Deja Evans, she tallied a team-high nine rebounds while also scoring 11 points.
- Junior Meghan Huerter was dialed in from behind the arc, shooting 4-4 three-pointers in the second quarter on her way to a 14-point performance.
GREAT DANE REWIND
- During the 10th week of the season, UAlbany was voted 22nd on the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.
- After the first week of conference play, the Great Danes hold a 13-2 record while going 2-0 in America East matchups.
- Going 4-2 in November, UAlbany found victories over Merrimack (11.6), Sarah Lawrence (11.13), St. Bonaventure (11.16), and Cornell (11.22) with losses to Fordham (11.10) and Stanford (11.26).
- Meeting a goal to go undefeated in December, the Great Danes added wins over Siena (12.2), CCSU (12.6), Marist (12.9), Dartmouth (12.12), Stonehill (12.16), UMass (12.20) and Navy (12.30).
- Most recently, UAlbany defeated conference opponents, Bryant (1.4) and NJIT (1.6).
- Kayla Cooper leads the Great Danes with 15.2 points per game and 25 steals. She also ranks second with 6.8 rebounds per game.
- Deja Evans is a staple on defense with a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game and 20 blocks.
- Graduate student Sarah Karpell serves as the team's playmaker with 50 assists.
UNDEFEATED DECEMBER
- The Great Danes powered through December without one loss.
- Seeing seven opponents, five at home, UAlbany was able to defeat each one by at least 10 points.
- Working as a team in each game, the Great Danes worked for several accomplishments throughout December.
- Four student-athletes earned double-digit points in two different contests:
- Four of the remaining five games had three student-athletes with double-digit points:
- CCSU (Dec. 6) - Cooper (14), Haegerstrand (14), Huerter (10)
- Dartmouth (Dec. 12) - Huerter (20), Haegerstrand (18), Cooper (16)
- Stonehill (Dec. 16) - Cooper (16), Evans (13), Huerter (11)
- Navy (Dec. 30) - Evans (26), Cooper (23), Haegerstrand (12)
- Three Great Danes tallied 20-point performances - Cooper (23 vs Marist (12.9) & 23 vs Navy) & Evans (26 vs Navy)
- Cooper has compiled three double-doubles (14 points & 12 rebounds against CCSU; 23 points & 13 rebounds against Marist; 16 points & 11 rebounds against Stonehill) while Evans added one in the final game of 2023 (26 points & 17 rebounds).
- Consistently improving from outside the arc, four Great Danes have shot 50% or above on multiple occasions:
- Meghan Huerter (5) - .500 (2-4) vs Siena, .750 (6-8) vs Dartmouth, .500 (3-6) vs Stonehill, .714 (5-7) at UMass, .500 (2-4) vs Navy
- Lilly Phillips (3) - .667 (2-3) at CCSU, .600 (3-5) vs Stonehill, .667 (4-6) at UMass
- Helene Haegerstrand (3) - .600 (3-5) vs Marist, .500 (4-8) vs Dartmouth, .500 (2-4) vs Navy
- As a team, UAlbany has shot at least 50% in four contests (Siena, Dartmouth, Stonehill, and UMass) with three games shooting 50% or higher from outside the arc (Dartmouth, Stonehill, and UMass).
HAPPY AT HOME
- Heading into the first conference road stretch of 2023-24, the Great Danes have yet to be defeated at home.
- After a record-breaking home opener against Sarah Lawrence at the "home away from home" Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium, UAlbany has defeated all of its opponents in Broadview Center.
- The Great Danes have lost just three games at home since the start of the 2021-22 season.
- Going undefeated at home in non-conference play, Maine took the second-to-last regular-season home game in February 2022.
- Flipping the book for the 2022-23 season, UAlbany fell to Colgate and Cornell at "home" (Saint Rose and HVCC, respectively) while Broadview Center was undergoing its transformational overhaul.
- The Great Danes have not fallen in a home contest since December 3, 2022 (Cornell).
WATCH YOUR POCKETS
- UAlbany is ranked second in the America East with 8.53 steals per game (128 total) and first in turnover margin with 2.73.
- Turning defense into offense, the Great Danes have averaged 19.1 points off turnovers (286 total).
- Two Great Danes are ranked in the top 15 in steals in the conference:
AUTOMATIC SHOOTING
- The Great Danes lead the America East in Team 3-Point FG Percentage (40.5%).
- Accurate shooting has made UAlbany have the highest-scoring offense in the conference (68.7 ppg).
- UAlbany has leaders across all the shooting categories:
MILESTONE WATCH
- Kayla Cooper is one game shy of recording her 20th career 10-rebound performance.
- Cooper is also two blocks from breaking her season-best block total.
- Helene Haegerstrand is three games away from recording her 75th career 10+ points game and her 10th of the season.
PLAY AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM
- The Great Danes have utilized great teamwork to fuel their success so far this season.
- In 15 contests, the Great Danes have had six different players lead the team in points.
- As a team, UAlbany ranks first in the conference in 11 stats with at least one conference-high mark in all categories:
- 68.7 points per game
- 50.1 points allowed per game
- 18.6 scoring margin
- .444 team FG percentage
- .358 opponent FG percentage
- .405 3PT FG percentage
- .757 free throw percentage
- .730 opponent free throw percentage
- 28.7 opponent rebounds per game
- 7.3 rebounding margin
- 2.73 turnover margin
BETTER BACK-UP
- UAlbany's bench has scored 19.0 points per game this season (285 total).
- Meghan Huerter leads the way, averaging 9.1 points (third on the team) while also ranking third on the team in rebounds with 3.4 per game. A knock-down shooter, she leads the team with a .521 percentage from outside the arc.
- Fellow junior Abby Ray is third on the team in offensive rebounds (25) and is fourth in assists with 24.
- Recording 13 steals and four blocks, fourth on the team in both, Gabriela Falcão has had an impact on defense.
ABOUT BINGHAMTON
- After 15 contests, the Bearcats own a 5-10 record and are 0-1 in conference play.
- Binghamton split their first four contests with wins over Roberts Wesleyan (11.3) and Bloomsburg (11. 6) followed by losses to Siena (11.9) and Loyola Maryland (11.12).
- After defeating St. Bonaventure (11.18), the Bearcats fell in six straight contests - Navy (11.21), Appalachian State (11.24), Furman (11. 25), Cornell (11.29), Pittsburgh (12.3), and Canisius (12.8).
- Binghamton enjoyed a three-match win streak with defeats over Coppin State (12.17), Army (12.20), and Chestnut Hill (12.30).
- With one game in the first week of America East action, the Bearcats fell to UMBC (1.4).
- Most recently, Binghamton hosted Bryant for a loss (1.11).
- Ella Wanzer leads the team on both sides of the court with 12.2 points per game and eight blocks.
- Jadyn Weltz owns the team-highs in assists (75) and rebounds per game (4.5).
- Denai Bowman has tallied the team-high with 16 steals.
- Binghamton leads the America East in 3-Point FGs made per game with 7.5.
SERIES AGAINST THE BEARCATS
- The Great Danes lead the series, 48-27.
- Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, has led the Great Danes through eight wins over Binghamton.
- Seeing Binghamton four times throughout the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, UAlbany swept both regular-season series.
- In their last matchup, the Great Danes defeated the Bearcats by a 10-point margin in overtime (2.11).
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 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.
AMERICA EAST STANDINGS
- After one week of conference play, three teams hold the lead having won both of their contests - UAlbany, Maine, and UMBC.
- Vermont and UMass Lowell are tied with one win and one loss each.
- NJIT and Binghamton saw just one game on the week. Both teams were unable to earn the win.
- Bryant and New Hampshire round out the conference with two losses each.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- Anne Simon was named Player of the Week for the 5th time on Monday.
- Simon averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.0 assists per game.
- Simon has earned POW honors five times this season, leading the league in scoring (19.3) and ranking 2nd in rebounding (7.6)
- Bryant's Mia Mancini was named Rookie of the Week for the 5th time on Monday.
- Mancini averaged 18.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 2 losses.
- She is currently third in the nation with 3.53 threes per game, while shooting 40.5% from three. She's also second in the league in scoring at 15.8 points per game.
- UMBC started league play 2-0 for the 2nd straight season.
- The Retrievers edged Bryant 64-63 on a last-second layup by Laura Lacambra.
- After going 20 years without beginning 2-0 in conference play UMBC has now accomplished the feat in two straight years.
- No player who averaged more than 10 minutes per game last year played in either of the team's wins last week.
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK
- Thursday
- Vermont at UMBC, 11 am
- Bryant at Binghamton, 11 am
- UMass Lowell at NJIT, 11 am
- Maine at New Hampshire, 6 pm
- Saturday
- UMass Lowell at UMBC, 1 pm
- Vermont at NJIT, 1 pm
- New Hampshire at Bryant, 2 pm
- UAlbany at Binghamton, 2 pm
NOTE: All America East stats and notes are from before conference action on January 11.
UP NEXT: The Great Danes will continue on the road with two games - UMass Lowell (Jan. 18) and Bryant (Jan. 20).
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
