ualbany wbb WBB - Game 28/Conference Game 15 @ New Hampshire Wildcats, Lundholm Gym, Durham, NH Thursday, February 29, 2024, 6:00 PM

[cwdickens]

The only drama here is whether or not, UAlbany WBB can sweep the next two game to claim the #1 seed. 

Feb 29 (Thu) 6:00 PM

AE

at 

New Hampshire

Durham, N.H.

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[cwdickens]

UALBANY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

 

UAlbany focused on task at hand

 

By Pete Dougherty

Jim Franco/Times Union

UAlbany graduate student Sarah Karpell, right, said the full-court press was tough to deal with the first time the Danes played New Hampshire.

ALBANY — The formula is simple. A victory for the University at Albany women’s basketball team Thursday night at New Hampshire will clinch a top-two finish in the America East. A triumph Saturday afternoon at Maine, and the Great Danes will be No. 1 in the conference.

The plan for coach Colleen Mullen: Don’t fret about the scoreboard.

 

“If you’re focused on the outcome, that’s never a good thing,” Mullen said Wednesday. “We want to win. That’s what we do this for, we love to compete, we want to win, but nothing is final, and we just want to feel like we’re playing at our best and have a strong finish so that we have the momentum as we go into playoffs.”

Winning the outright regular-season championship, which would be a first for Mullen in her six years in charge, has its privileges. It would assure UAlbany home court for any game in the America East Tournament, which begins Friday, March 8, as long as the Danes keep winning.

Home court likely was a factor last season when UAlbany and Vermont finished with the same conference record, but the Cat-amounts were awarded the No. 1 seed based on tiebreakers. Vermont won that title game 38-36 in Burlington, earning an NCAA Tournament berth.

“The wins and losses set us up for hosting and not hosting, and we want to be in the best position to host,” Mullen said, “but we need to focus on how do we feel like we’re playing. UNH is fighting to get into the playoffs, and we’re fighting for that top spot. We’re going to get people’s best, and that’s going to continue to make us better.”

New Hampshire (9-18, 3-11 America East) is trying to stay ahead of NJIT for the final America East Tournament spot. The Wildcats gave the Danes all they could handle Jan. 27 in Albany, soaring back from a 21-2 deficit to get to within five points before losing, 54-46.

The Wildcats used a full-court press that forced the Danes into a season-high 26 turnovers.

“It was just something we had not seen that much until that point,” Danes graduate guard Sarah Karpell said. “It was still early in the conference season. We’ve seen a lot more presses since then, and we’ve gotten a lot better at it.”

UAlbany also lost guards Meghan Huerter and Lilly Phillips to ankle injuries during the course of that game. Both have since returned, and the Danes enter Thursday’s game at full strength.

“UNH did a terrific job,” said Mullen, a New Hampshire graduate. “They knew we weren’t very deep, and we had just come off the Maine game, which was a big win for us, with a one-day prep. We weren’t able to really focus on that press offense as much as we wanted to.

“Plus, Sarah Karpell had played a lot of minutes and was emotionally and mentally exhausted. It was a combination of a few things of why we struggled to take care of the ball.”

The Danes, whose only conference losses have come against Vermont, will eliminate any chance of a return trip to Burlington with one victory in their final two games.

Even with a loss Thursday, UAlbany can still capture the No. 1 seed with a victory Saturday. The Danes will have swept Maine in that circumstance, giving them the conference tie-breaker.

“We’ve just been focused on going 1-0 against all of our opponents,” Mullen said. “We’ve been doing that since December and just focusing on going one game at a time. We’re completely focused on New Hampshire. We can’t even think about Maine until Friday.”

UALBANY AT NEW HAMPSHIRE

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: Lundholm Gymnasium, Durham, N.H.

TV: ESPN+ (streaming)

MORE FROM Sports

[tnehurley]

Bring your A-Game, ladies!  

[jimbo]

They keep getting their opponent’s A games…pulled out a gritty win. Terrific D by both teams but way too many TOs by the Lady Danes. Congrats! Big game on Saturday. 

[jimbo]

And you have to love Madi Jones and her interview box platform. 

[cwdickens]

From today's Times-Union:

UALBANY 45, NEW HAMPSHIRE 40

 

Huerter sparks Danes in victory

 

Sports staff

With her team struggling to get anything to fall, Meghan Huerter buried a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter to spark a big run that propelled the University at Albany to a 45-40 win over New Hampshire on Thursday in Durham, N.H.

The Great Danes (24-4, 13-2 America East) were mired in a nearly seven-minute scoring drought in the the third quarter and had fallen behind when Huerter suddenly got hot from deep. Huerter scored nine of her12 points in an11-0 run that put UAlbany ahead for good.

 

New Hampshire (9-19, 3-13) lost for the sixth straight time and has a 10-game losing streak to UAlbany dating back to February 2020.

Karolina Andersson had nine points and Breezie Williams seven to stake the Wildcats to a 24-20 lead at halftime. Helene Haegerstrand scored nine of her team-high 14 points in the first half for the Great Danes.

The Wildcats went scoreless for the first 6:30 of the second half before Anders-son drained a 3-pointer from the corner to give New Hampshire a 27-23 lead. New Hampshire went 0-for-7 from the field and committed four turnovers to start the quarter.

But UAlbany struggled as well. After Haegerstrand nailed a 3-pointer 15 seconds into the second half, the Danes didn’t score again until Huerter converted a three-point play with 2:54 remaining in the quarter. Then she nailed two from beyond the arc to give UAlbany the lead for good.