ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany women's basketball team returns home to face Sacred Heart.
In their second doubleheader of the year, the Great Danes will face Sacred Heart for a Purple Out before the men host Siena for the Albany Cup. We encourage all fans to wear purple for both contests.
UAlbany's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will be at both basketball games on Saturday collecting items for the annual America East food drive. Any support is appreciated as they compete against other schools in the conference for Food Frenzy. Donations will be taken to the Regional Food Bank in Albany to benefit the local community.
GAME INFORMATION
Sacred Heart at UAlbany
DATE: Saturday, November 16
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Broadview Center - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 2-0, 0-0 America East | Sacred Heart 1-2, 0-0 MAAC
SERIES RECORD: 9-6, Sacred Heart leads
STATS:
UAlbanySports.com
STREAM:
ESPN+
INT'L STREAM:
AE.TV
TICKETS:
TicketReturn.com
UAlbany game notes (PDF)
*records as of November 15
GREAT DANE REWIND
- UAlbany is unbeaten through the first two games of the season.
- After opening with a double-digit home victory against Rhode Island, 67-57, the Great Danes grounded out a win at Dartmouth, 58-53.
- Graduate students Kayla Cooper and Jessica Tomasetti led the team in both games.
- Cooper earned a double-double against the Rams before tallying 20 points against the Big Green. Tomasetti averages 15 points through the two contests.
- Hitting the boards, the team combined for 17 offensive rebounds during Wednesday's game.
- Graduate student Kaci Donovan leads with three assists in two games while junior Gabriela Falcão has totaled as many blocks.
- As a team, the Great Danes are shooting .414 from the field, with a 30.0% accuracy from downtown, and .857 from the line.
- On the roster, the Great Danes return with five 2023-24 student-athletes - Kayla Cooper, Lilly Phillips, Abby Ray, Meghan Huerter, and Gabriela Falcão.
- This offseason, UAlbany added nine student-athletes - five freshmen and four transfers.
MILESTONE WATCH
- Graduate student Kayla Cooper is just one block away from 50 career blocks.
- Three Great Danes are nearing a milestone in assists - Jessica Tomasetti is working towards 200 career assists (five more) while Laycee Drake (15) and Kaci Donovan (12) are closing in on 100 career assists.
- Donovan is 94 points away from joining the 1000-point club.
IN THE RECORD BOOK
- Kayla Cooper is ranked in the record book in four different stats.
- 6th - 1372 points
- 7th - 12.7 points per game
- 5th - 769 rebounds
- T8th - 7.1 rebounds per game
- In 2023-24, two Great Danes put up single-season numbers good enough to be ranked in program history.
- Kayla Cooper
- 7th - 509 points
- 10th - 15.9 points per game
- 8th - .528 field goal percentage
- Meghan Huerter
- 2nd - .459 three-point field goal percentage
WHAT'S UP, PRESEASON
- With 56 total points, including three first-place votes, the UAlbany women's basketball team was picked to finish second in the America East preseason poll.
- The Great Danes trailed Maine, who finished with 60 points, including five first-place votes.
- Returning stat leader Kayla Cooper was named to the preseason All-Conference Team after leading UAlbany on offense (15.9 points per game and a .530 field goal percentage) and on defense (7.2 rebounds per game and 46 steals).
ABOUT SACRED HEART
- The Pioneers are 1-2 on the season with a win over Hofstra in their season opener.
- Currently on a two-game losing streak, SHU has played at Boston College and NJIT.
- UAlbany will be the last in a four-game road streak. After playing at Broadview Center, the Pioneers will play their home opener against Monmouth.
- Ny'Ceara Pryor leads the team with 16.0 points per game and nine steals.
- Emma Kirby follows with 9.3 points per game and two team-highs - 7.7 rebounds per game and four blocks.
- As a team, the Pioneers are shooting .350 from the field, with an 18.8% accuracy from downtown, and .567 from the line.
SERIES AGAINST THE PIONEERS
- Sacred Heart holds the lead in the series, 9-6.
- UAlbany and SHU last met in 2011 in a double-digit win for the Great Danes.
- This will be head coach Colleen Mullen's first meeting against the Pioneers during her time at UAlbany.
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 fourth consecutive year.
- Coaches Colleen Mullen and Dwayne Killings, along with select student-athletes, will join ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team's Dan Bahl and Michael Johnson Jr. 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 Killings, 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
- A week into the basketball season, the Great Danes and the Bulldogs are the only two teams left without a loss.
- Bryant has won each of its first three games while UAlbany has two wins in as many contests.
- Maine and New Hampshire each have one loss with at least two wins.
- Binghamton and NJIT are even with two wins in four games.
- Vermont and UMBC have lost two of their first three contests.
- UMass Lowell rounds out the conference looking for their first win.
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST
- UAlbany's Kayla Cooper was named the Player of the Week on Monday.
- Cooper put up 17 points and 14 rebounds in a win over URI
- It is her seventh career Player of the Week honor
- NJIT's Olivia Kulyk was selected as the Rookie of the Week on Monday.
- Kulyk averaged 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in a 1-2 week.
- Posted a career-high 13 points with six rebounds in a 74-69 loss to Hofstra.
- A strong start for the league at 3-0 against the A-10 and 1-0 against the SEC this season.
- Vermont took down Missouri 62-46 in its home opener on Nov. 4.
- Maine beat La Salle, UNH took down UMass and UAlbany beat Rhode Island last week.
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEKEND
- Friday
- Saturday
- Holy Cross at Vermont, 1 pm
- UMass Lowell at Dartmouth, 1 pm
- Sacred Heart at UAlbany, 2 pm
- Bryant at Seton Hall, 4:30 pm
- Boston U at New Hampshire, 6 pm
- Sunday
- Harvard at Maine, 12 pm
- NJIT at FGCU, 1 pm
- Pittsburgh at Binghamton, 1:30 pm
- Morgan State at UMBC, 2 pm
UP NEXT: The Great Danes will head on the road to face Syracuse on Wednesday (Nov. 20) at the Dome.
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