ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany women's basketball team heads on the road to face their first Power-4 opponent of the season.
 
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
 
UAlbany at Syracuse
DATE: Wednesday, November 20
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: JMA Wireless Dome - Syracuse, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 3-0, 0-0 America East | Syracuse 2-2, 0-0 ACC
SERIES RECORD: 6-0, Syracuse leads
STATS: Cuse.com
STREAM: ACCNX
INT'L STREAM: Cuse.com/Watch
TICKETS: Ticketmaster
 
*records as of November 19
 
A WEEK IN REVIEW

• In their second week of action, the Great Danes went 2-0 with a road win over Dartmouth (11/13) and a home victory against Sacred Heart (11/16).
• Graduate student Kayla Cooper was named the America East Player of the Week with an average of 23.0 points per game, including a career-high match of 26 points against Sacred Heart.
• Graduate student Jessica Tomasetti (Dartmouth) and senior Laycee Drake (Sacred Heart) made it two players with points in the double-digits in their respective contests.
• Freshman Martina Borrellas and graduate student Kaci Donovan led on the defense with six rebounds against Dartmouth. Cooper led with eight rebounds against Sacred Heart.

 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany is unbeaten through the first three 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, before taking a second double-digit victory, 61-49, against Sacred Heart.
• Kayla Cooper leads with 21.0 points per game, 9.0 rebounds per game, and eight steals.
• Junior Gabriela Falcao owns two team-highs - five assists and four blocks.
• Jessica Tomasetti follows Cooper as the only other Great Dane averaging double-digit points (12.0).
• As a team, the Great Danes are shooting .432 from the field, with a 28.6% accuracy from downtown, and .872 from the line.

 
MILESTONE WATCH

• 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 (two more) while Laycee Drake (15) and Kaci Donovan (11) are closing in on 100 career assists.
• Donovan is 91 points away from joining the 1000-point club. Cooper is nearing 1500 points (102 points away).

 
IN THE RECORD BOOK

• Kayla Cooper is ranked in the record book in four different stats.
  • 6th - 1398 points
  • 7th - 12.8 points per game
  • 5th - 777 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 SYRACUSE

• The Orange is 2-2 on the season with wins over Niagara (11/5) and FDU (11/17) and losses to Saint Joseph's (11/10) and #11 Maryland (11/13).
• Georgia Woolley leads the team with 15.8 points per game. Kyra Wood (13.3) and Sophie Burrows (11.5) follow to make it three players averaging double-digit points.
• Wood leads with 7.8 rebounds, including 15 offensive rebounds.
• Dominique Camp owns the team-high with 20 assists while Burrows leads with nine steals.
• Izabel Varejão leads with six blocks.
• As a team, the Orange is shooting .492 from the field, with an 43.3% accuracy from downtown, and .699 from the line.

 
SERIES AGAINST THE ORANGE

• The two New York State teams have met on six occasions, all of which have been Syracuse wins.
• Most recently, the Great Danes visited Syracuse for an 87-64 loss on December 20, 2022. 
• A sophomore in the starting lineup, Lilly Phillips saw 30 minutes of action with one rebound and one assist.
• Current stats leader, Kayla Cooper, finished second on the team with 17 points and led with seven rebounds during the contest.
• Current senior Abby Ray also saw time against the Orange in 2022. 
• This will be head coach Colleen Mullen's third meeting against the Orange 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

• Two weeks into the season, the Great Danes are the only remaining undefeated team in the conference.
• Bryant and New Hampshire follow UAlbany with a 4-1 record.
• Vermont (3-2) has a slight edge on Maine and UMBC who are sitting at .500 with two wins in four contests.
• Binghamton and NJIT are just under .500 with a 2-3 record each.
• UMass Lowell rounds out the conference looking for their first win.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Tuesday
  • Bryant at Cornell, 6:30 pm
• Wednesday
  • Rhode Island at UMass Lowell, 6 pm
  • New Hampshire at Boston College, 6 pm
  • Army at NJIT, 6 pm
  • American at UMBC, 6:30 pm
  • UAlbany at Syracuse, 7 pm
• Thursday
  • Maine at Boston U, 6 pm
• Friday
  • Stonehill at Bryant, 6 pm
  • Binghamton at LIU, 6 pm
  • Vermont vs NDSU, 9:15 pm
• Saturday
  • Vermont vs Troy OR Alaska-Anchorage, TBA
  • New Hampshire at Howard, 2 pm
  • NJIT at Merrimack, 2 pm
  • Cornell at UAlbany, 7 pm
• Sunday
  • UMass Lowell at Butler, 2 pm
  • Quinnipiac at Maine, 2:30 pm
  • Manhattan at UMBC, 4 pm

 
UP NEXT: The Great Danes will return home to face Cornell for Swifties Night on Saturday (Nov. 23).
 
Keep up with all of the latest news, highlights, and insights on UAlbany women's basketball by following the team on X, Instagram, and Facebook.