Danes get shot at the last league team to beat them
Vermont ousted Ualbany in 2019 America East playoffs before 2020 slate wiped out
It may seem like a decade ago, but the last America East loss endured by the University at Albany lacrosse team came against the University of Vermont in a conference tournament semifinal match.
That was in the final game of the 2019 season, before a pandemic interceded and aborted the 2020 schedule. Ualbany’s home meeting Saturday against the Catamounts isn’t necessarily a revenge game, but it may be an important meeting in what could be a tight America East regularseason race.
“I remember all our losses and tough games and games I didn’t play great at,” said senior Tehoka Nanticoke, who was named to the Tewaaraton Award initial watch list earlier this week. “This is something I look back at and think about a lot, but I can’t dwell on the past. I’ve got to be prepared for the next one. I’ve got to go out and be the better me for that game and hopefully we all come out prepared and ready to roll.”
So far Ualbany (2-0 overall, 1-0 conference) has been rolling pretty well, with victories over Colgate and Hartford, but the Catamounts are a step up in competition.
Vermont (1-2, 1-0) is among a fourteam pack that was separated by just nine points in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll. Ualbany (43 points) also was in that group, trailing Stony Brook (44) and ahead of UMBC (38) and Vermont (35).
The Catamounts are coming off a 17-13 loss at sixth-ranked Syracuse.
“We really gave the game away up there in the regular season (10-9 loss), and then they just beat us in the playoffs (13-9 loss) that year,” Danes coach Scott Marr said. “The bad taste in our mouth is those two losses against them, so we’re certainly excited to play against them.”
Ualbany should be back to full strength for its conference home opener. Because of positive COVID -19 tests and contact tracing, 11 Danes missed the season-opening 15-9 victory two weeks ago against Colgate but were back for last week’s 16-6 triumph
at Hartford.
“We’re happy with the wins and thrilled with guys stepping up when called upon,” said Ualbany goalie Liam Donnelly, who leads the America East with a .571 save percentage. “We treat every day like that. You never know who’s going to be out, so you just have to be ready. We learned a lot from these two games, a lot of stuff we need to improve on. Last week we started out a little slow. We can’t afford to do that this weekend.”
Once again, no fans will be permitted for the game at Fallon Field, but the Danes are just happy to be in a routine. They had played five games at this point last season when the rest of the schedule was canceled because of the pandemic.
“It’s still a weird feeling,” Marr said. “It’s a day-by-day thing. Even traveling on the bus and being concerned, and being in a visiting team locker room stuff like that, it’s not normal yet. Guys are getting sick, but they’re not getting COVID-SICK. It’s like if somebody gets the sniffles, right away everybody’s like, ‘He’s got COVID.’
“You’re on your toes every day,
waiting to see who is going to say they’re not feeling well. It’s not set the same yet, but it is nice to be on the field practicing and playing. When we all get on the field, everybody’s tested twice a week, all that kind of good stuff, so we feel pretty confident when we’re playing that we’re in good shape.”
Anthony Polite hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:06 left, and No. 15 Florida State held off North Carolina 69-66 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Balsa Koprivica had a career highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Seminoles (16-5), who blew a 13-point lead, then rallied from five down midway through the second half to grind out a tough win that came down to the final seconds.
More top 25 men
Oklahoma State 83, Baylor 74: Cade Cunningham scored 25 points, Avery Anderson III added 20 and No. 12 Oklahoma State was nearly perfect from the foul line down the stretch in beating second-ranked Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
Illinois 90, Rutgers 68: Ayo Dosunmu scored 23 points and No. 3 Illinois easily beat Rutgers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Michigan 79, Maryland 66: Michigan coach Juwan Howard was ejected midway through the second half after getting into a shouting match with the Maryland bench, and the No. 4 Wolverines won to reach the Big Ten semifinals. Mike Smith scored 18 points and set a Big Ten Tournament record with 15 assists for Michigan.
Iowa 62, Wisconsin 57: Luka Garza scored 24 points, Joe Wieskamp made two key baskets late and No. 5 Iowa fended off Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
The third-seeded Hawkeyes (21-7) rallied from a six-point halftime deficit behind Garza. Their all-time leading scorer dominated inside, making 10 of 15 field goals and 4 of 5 free throws.
Alabama 85, Mississippi State 48: Jaden Shackelford had 13 points, Jahvon Quinerly added 14 off the bench and No. 6 Alabama blew out Mississippi State in an SEC quarterfinal.
Houston 77, Tulane 52: Dejon Jarreau had his first career triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, helping No. 7 Houston to a victory over Tulane in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Arkansas 70, Missouri 64: Reserve JD Notae scored a season-high 27 points and No. 8 Arkansas overcame a 10point deficit to beat Missouri to advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Ohio State 87, Purdue 78 (OT): Seth Towns scored six of his season-high 12 points in overtime, helping No. 9 Ohio State beat No. 21 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Creighton 59, Uconn 56: Marcus Zegarowski made two key baskets in a decisive ninepoint run late in the second half and No. 17 Creighton held Connecticut without a field goal over the final six minutes to beat the Huskies in the Big East Tournament semifinals.
MAAC men
Iona 70, Niagara 64: Asante Gist scored 19 points with five assists and Iona defeated Niagara in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.
Fairfield 52, St. Peter’s 47: Caleb Green posted 14 points as No. 7 seed Fairfield edged past No. 3 seed St. Peter’s in the semifinals of the MAAC tourney.
Top 25 women
Baylor 92, TCU 55: Nalyssa Smith scored 26 points, Dijonai Carrington had 17 and No. 6 Baylor beat TCU to advance to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
Maryland 85, Northwestern 52: Alaysia Styles scored 15 points off the bench to lead a balanced attack as No. 8 Maryland advanced to the final of the Big Ten Tournament.
West Virginia 58, Kansas State 56: Kirsten Deans scored seven points in the last 36 seconds, including a layup at the buzzer, and No. 17 West Virginia rallied to defeat Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Missouri State 70, Southern Illinois 59: Brice Calip scored 12 of her 17 points in the first half, and Abby Hipp added 11 points as No. 21 Missouri State beat Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Florida Gulf Coast 59, Lipscomb 44: Aaliyah Stanley scored 25 points with six 3-pointers and No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast won its 24th straight game and advanced to the championship game of the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
America East women
Stony Brook 64, Maine 60: Anastasia Warren scored a career-high 31 points, including the clinching free throws with 0.7 seconds to play, and second-seeded Stony Brook earned its first berth in the NCAA Tournament with a win over top-seeded Maine in the America East championship game.
Note: For the second time in as many days, major conferences have called off tournament games due to COVID-19 concerns — this time involving No. 11 Kansas and No. 16 Virginia. The Jayhawks withdrew from the Big 12 Tournament on Friday after a positive COVID-19 test within the program, which led to the cancellation of their semifinal matchup with No. 13 Texas. And earlier Friday, the Atlantic Coast Conference canceled the league’s semifinal game between the top-seeded Cavaliers and Georgia Tech due to a positive test, quarantining and contact tracing within the Cavaliers program. The announcement came less than 12 hours before the Yellow Jackets and Cavaliers were set to play the first of two semifinal games. It is unclear what the COVID-19 issues mean for the Virginia and Kansas going forward, though the Jayhawks released a statement that they would continue preparing for the NCAA Tournament.