ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany women's basketball team will travel to face New Hampshire and Maine in the final games of the regular season.
GAME INFORMATION
UAlbany at New Hampshire
DATE: Thursday, February 29
TIME: 6:00 PM
SITE: Lundholm Gymnasium - Durham, N.H.
RECORDS: UAlbany 23-4, 12-2 America East | New Hampshire 9-18, 3-11 America East
SERIES RECORDS: 32-18, UAlbany leads
STATS:
UNHWildcats.com
STREAM:
ESPN+
INT'L STREAM:
AE.TV
TICKETS:
UNHWildcats.com
UAlbany at Maine
DATE: Saturday, March 2
TIME: 1:00 PM
SITE: The Pit in Memorial Gymnasium - Orono, Maine
RECORDS: UAlbany 23-4, 12-2 America East | Maine 19-9, 12-2 America East
SERIES RECORDS: 31-23, Maine leads
STATS:
GoBlackBears.com
STREAM:
ESPN+
INT'L STREAM:
AE.TV
TICKETS:
GoBlackBears.com
*records as of February 27
Game Notes (UNH) |
Game Notes (Maine)
A WEEK IN REVIEW
- UAlbany split the weekend after falling to Vermont before bouncing back to defeat UMass Lowell.
- The Great Danes lost to the Catamounts on the road, 35-67, Thursday evening.
- Senior Kayla Cooper led the team with 13 points and four offensive rebounds.
- On the back of a strong defensive performance, UAlbany defeated the River Hawks, 59-39.
- Freshman Deja Evans had a strong all-around performance, leading the team with 15 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks.
- Cooper recorded 10 points and a team-high five assists.
GREAT DANE REWIND
- Nearly two months after entering the CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top-25 Poll, UAlbany has remained in the top 25 for eight weekly polls with five total weeks in the top 20.
- Working on defense throughout the entire season, the Great Danes lead the nation while holding their opponents to an average of 51.2 points per game.
- With an "offense comes from defense" mentality, UAlbany adds a top-ten national ranking with 38.78% shooting accuracy from three.
- Fourteen games into conference play, the Great Danes hold a 23-4 record with 12 America East wins.
- Seeing just two losses during non-conference play, UAlbany went undefeated in December. The Great Danes saw victories over Merrimack (11.6), Sarah Lawrence (11.13), St. Bonaventure (11.16), Cornell (11.22), Siena (12.2), CCSU (12.6), Marist (12.9), Dartmouth (12.12), Stonehill (12.16), UMass (12.20) and Navy (12.30) with losses to Fordham (11.10) and Stanford (11.26) throughout the first half of the season.
- Adding just two losses (to Vermont) during conference play, UAlbany has swept the series against Bryant, NJIT, Binghamton, UMass Lowell, and UMBC.
- Set to close their final regular-season series this week, the Great Danes defeated New Hampshire and Maine in their home contests.
- Kayla Cooper leads the Great Danes with 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. The guard also owns a team-high 38 steals.
- Following Cooper with 7.1 rebounds per game, Deja Evans totals a team-high 41 blocks.
- Graduate student Sarah Karpell is the team's playmaker with 89 assists.
- Two shooters hold three-point field goal percentages over 40% - Meghan Huerter (48.1%) and Lilly Phillips (42.2%).
HAPPY AT HOME
- Done with their regular-season home contests of 2023-24, the Great Danes have gone 13-1 at home.
- After a record-breaking home opener against Sarah Lawrence at the "home away from home" Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium, UAlbany defeated its first 10 home opponents during the 2023-24 season.
- The Great Danes have lost just four 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 of the 2021-22 season.
- Flipping the book for the 2022-23 season, UAlbany fell to Colgate and Cornell at "home" (Saint Rose and HVCC, respectively) while Broadview Center underwent its transformational overhaul.
- The Great Danes fell in their first home loss this season to Vermont on February 1.
AUTOMATIC SHOOTING
- UAlbany is ranked sixth in the country in three-point field goal percentage (.379).
- The Great Danes lead the America East in nearly all shooting categories: scoring defense (51.2), scoring margin (12.0), field goal defense (.371), three-point field goal percentage (.388), and three-point field goal defense (.268).
- Two Great Danes are ranked nationally with their respective stats:
- UAlbany has leaders across all the shooting categories:
MILESTONE WATCH
- Meghan Huerter is one three-pointer away from 100 in her collegiate career.
- Lilly Phillips is 25 points away from 500 career points.
- Haegerstrand is three blocks away from recording her 100th career block.
- Sarah Karpell is 11 assists away from recording her 100th of the season. This would be the second time in her career that she has reached this milestone.
PLAY AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM
- The Great Danes have utilized great teamwork to fuel their success so far this season.
- In 25 contests, the Great Danes have had six different players lead the team in points.
- As a team, UAlbany ranks first in the conference in seven stats:
- 51.2 points allowed per game
- 12.0 scoring margin
- .371 opponent FG percentage
- .388 3PT FG percentage
- .268 opponent 3PT FG percentage
- 28.1 opponent rebounds per game
- 6.9 rebounding margin
BETTER BACK-UP
- UAlbany's bench has scored 14.8 points per game this season (400 total).
- Junior Meghan Huerter leads the way, shooting .481 for three (first on the team) with a top-five 8.1 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game.
- Fellow junior Abby Ray is third on the team in offensive rebounds (40) and is fifth in assists with 35.
- Recording 15 steals, seventh on the team, and nine blocks, fourth on the team, sophomore Gabriela Falcão has had an impact on defense.
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE
- The Wildcats own a 9-18 record while going 3-11 in conference play.
- Trading results to start the season, New Hampshire tallied wins over New Hampshire (11.6) and Howard (11.12) with losses to Boston U (11.10) and Colorado State (11.15).
- Finishing what proved to be four consecutive losses, the Wildcats added games against UNLV (11.18), Utah Tech (11.22), and Dartmouth (11.26).
- Making their non-conference record 6-7, New Hampshire went 3-2 in December after a 10-point victory over Northeastern (11.29).
- Seeing common opponents CCSU and Stonehill, the Wildcats defeated both teams with double-digit point margins.
- Throughout the conference season, UNH split the series against NJIT, UMBC, and UMass Lowell while falling in both contests against Maine, Vermont, Bryant, and Binghamton. Previously losing to Binghamton and UAlbany, the Wildcats will close the regular season this week.
- Breezie Williams leads the offense with 7.5 points per game and 63 assists.
- On defense, Clara Gomez has recorded 5.9 rebounds per game and 13 blocks.
SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS
- The Great Danes lead the series, 32-18.
- Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, owns a 10-2 record against New Hampshire during her time with UAlbany.
- Having squared off already this season, the Great Danes won, 54-46, at home on January 27.
- Two Great Danes scored double-digit points in the winning effort – Helene Haegerstrand (12) and Kayla Cooper (11).
- Sarah Karpell led the team with six assists and three steals.
- UAlbany swept the Wildcats in the regular-season series during the 2022-23 season.
PAST CONNECTIONS
- Head coach Colleen Mullen both attended and graduated from New Hampshire.
- Following two years of play at Rhode Island, Mullen concluded her collegiate career as a two-year captain for the Wildcats. Within just two seasons, she achieved the 14th-highest mark in program history with 218 assists as a Wildcat.
ABOUT MAINE
- The Black Bears have gone 19-9 this season and are tied with the Great Danes for first in the conference with a 12-2 record.
- Maine enjoyed non-conference wins against - La Salle (11.9), UMass (11.12), Rhode Island (11.14), Louisiana Tech (11.25), Fordham (12.2), Harvard (12.6), and Tulane (12.21). With losses to Richmond (11.24), Drake (11.26), #17 Indiana (11.30), James Madison (12.17), Duquesne (12.20), and UPenn (12.30).
- Entering conference play with consecutive victories over UMass Lowell, Vermont, New Hampshire, UMBC, and NJIT, the Black Bears fell in their first league matchup to UAlbany.
- Continuing play, Maine closed the regular-season series with a sweep over UMass Lowell, Vermont, New Hampshire, NJIT, and Bryant. Splitting the series with UMBC, the Black Bears will close the regular season against Binghamton and UAlbany this week.
- Anne Simon leads the team and the conference with 18.4 points per game while also recording 67 steals.
- Adrianna Smith leads on defense with 11.2 rebounds per game and 20 blocks while also recording a team-high 121 assists.
- The trio of Simon, Smith, and Caroline Borneman rank in the top three of the team in points per game, rebounds per game, total assists, and total steals.
SERIES AGAINST THE BLACK BEARS
- Maine leads the series, 31-23.
- Current head coach, Colleen Mullen, owns a 4-11 record against the Black Bears during her time with UAlbany.
- Having squared off already this season, the Great Danes won, 54-47, at home on January 25.
- Deja Evans finished just shy of a double-double, recording a team-high in points (17) and rebounds (8) while also recording six blocks.
- UAlbany hosted the Black Bears for a semifinal contest on March 5, 2023. The Great Danes won, 72-64.
- Prior to the 2022-23 season, UAlbany broke an 11-game win streak from Maine with the America East Championship win in 2022.
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, three 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).
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 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
- UAlbany and Maine sit at the top of the table with a 12-2 record with the Great Danes holding the tie-breaker.
- Vermont trails closely behind with 11 wins in 15 contests.
- Sitting at .500, Bryant and Binghamton hold a 7-7 conference record.
- UMBC has earned six wins followed by UMass Lowell with four.
- New Hampshire trails with three wins in 14 conference contests.
- NJIT rounds out the conference with two league wins
GUIDE TO THE AMERICA EAST
- UAlbany controls their destiny heading into the final weekend of play as a win on Saturday against Maine guarantees them the one-seed in playoffs.
- The Great Danes finished the sweep against UMass Lowell last weekend.
- UAlbany has also swept Bryant, NJIT, UMBC, and Binghamton. Bryant and Binghamton are tied for fourth on the conference ladder.
- Maine is tied with UAlbany for first in the America East. UAlbany leads the season series, 1-0.
- The Great Danes lead the season series, 1-0, against New Hampshire.
- Vermont is the only conference opponent that UAlbany has not defeated, being swept in the season series. The Catamounts experienced four losses total - two to Maine, one to Bryant, and one to Binghamton.
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK
- Thursday
- UMass Lowell at Bryant, 6:00 pm
- UAlbany at New Hampshire, 6:00 pm
- Binghamton at Maine, 6:00 pm
- NJIT at UMBC, 7:00 pm
- Saturday
- Binghamton at New Hampshire, 1:00 pm
- UAlbany at Maine, 1:00 pm
- Bryant at NJIT, 2:00 pm
- Vermont at UMass Lowell, 3:00 pm
UP NEXT: The Great Danes will prepare for the America East playoffs which will start March 8. Having clinched hosting responsibilities, UAlbany will start with a quarterfinal game at Broadview Center at 7 pm
