Cooper Named Player of the Year, Seven Honored by America East

BOSTON - Kayla Cooper led seven honorees from the UAlbany women’s basketball with a postseason honor from the America East conference, announced Wednesday.

Led by Kayla Cooper, Player of the Year, and Head Coach Colleen Mullen, Coach of the Year, the Great Danes topped the conference with six student-athletes honored on the America East postseason teams. UAlbany landed one each on the All-Conference First-, Second-, and Third Teams. The team added two members on the All-Rookie Team and an honoree on the All-Academic Team. 

Named First Team All-Conference for the third year in a row, Cooper earned her first America East Player of the Year award. Leading the team in points per game, rebounds per game, assists, and steals, she is second in the league with 17.4 ppg, fourth with 6.8 rpg and 3.3 apg, and tied for sixth with 1.6 apg. The graduate student also finished the regular season second with a .556 field goal percentage and a .824 free throw percentage while ranking top 20 in the conference in blocks per game. One of two Great Danes to average in the double-digits, Cooper has totaled over 10 points in all but one game this season with nine 20+-point contests and six double-doubles. A Frederick, Md. native, she nearly added the first triple-double in recorded program history with nine rebounds, eight assists, and 12 points in her senior night contest against NJIT (March 1, 2025).

Seven years into her coaching career at UAlbany, Colleen Mullen continues to make her mark on Great Dane history. This year alone, she started the season with the best 10-game start in Division I history with just one loss, including an upset over ACC-foe Syracuse. Mullen continued with her fourth consecutive 20-game season, a feat that has only been accomplished twice in both UAlbany basketball programs - once by former women’s basketball head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson and once by former men’s basketball head coach Will Brown. The New Hampshire graduate capped the season with an undefeated regular season at Broadview Center to clinch her second America East Regular Season Champion title and first season as the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Great Danes are one of just 16 teams in the nation to be undefeated at home at the end of the 2024-25 regular season. 

A graduate transfer, Jessica Tomasetti tabbed a Second Team All-Conference nod. The starting point guard, she made her mark from the very first game with a 16-point performance against Rhode Island. She is ranked top 15 in the conference in assists per game and steals per game and top 20 in rebounds per game. Tallying the sixth-most minutes per game in the league, Tomasetti totaled 13 double-digit points games with one double-double. The North Potomac, Md. native ended the season with a four-game streak with at least 10 points scored. Overall, she notched four games with at least 70% shooting accuracy while adding 12 games with at least 50% accuracy. 

The second of two averaging double-digit points, Kaci Donovan was named Third Team All-Conference. A graduate transfer, she earned a career-high 30 points at Boston U as one of seven games with at least 15 points scored. She finished the regular season ranked seventh in the America East with 11.6 points per game while shooting 42.3% (seventh in the AE) and tied for third in the league with 1.7 three-pointers per game. A lights-out shooter, she totaled eight games with at least 50% accuracy from downtown and seven games with at least three made three-pointers. Overall, Donovan notched 15 double-digit points, including her first career double-double.

With one starter and one important reserve, two Great Dane freshmen were named to the AE All-Rookie Team. 

Starting all but two games, Delanie Hill is ranked top 40 in the conference in assists per game (1.4) and steals per game (0.9). The freshman starter averaged 20.5 minutes per game during her rookie season. 

Often the first sub in the game, Martina Borrellas finished the regular season with 3.0 rebounds per game (fourth on the team). Averaging 14.9 minutes per game, she ranked top 35 in the league with 0.8 steals per game and 0.2 blocks per game while adding top 50 numbers in rebounds per game (3.0) and assists per game (1.0). 

Last but not least, a four-year Great Dane, Lilly Phillips was named to the America East All-Academic Team. An all-around player for UAlbany, Phillips finished the regular season ranked in the conference in nearly every stat. She is top-15 in steals per game (1.1) and blocks per game (0.6). Adding a top-10 figure with 1.3 three-pointers per game, she also ranks top 25 in points per game (9.0) and assists per game (1.7). This year alone, she earned 12 double-digit point games, including a career-high 24 points against Stonehill (Dec. 1), in which she totaled nine field goals, including six three-pointers. 

For the full list of America East honorees, click here.

For the America East release, click here.

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