Danes defeated in season opener
Ualbany starts well before fading in its long-awaited contest
It looked promising early, but the rust of not having played a game in nine months surfaced Friday afternoon for the University at Albany women’s basketball team.
The Danes, after two disruptions during the preseason and several schedule changes because of COVID -19 pauses, lost their season opener 63-45 at Hofstra, which took the court for the fourth time.
“Today was a great learning experience to see where we are against an opponent other than ourselves,” Ualbany coach Colleen Mullen said. “There were a lot of nerves and excitement before the game from the players to dust the cobwebs off and give a good test to a really athletic Hofstra team that really made us feel uncomfortable for 40 minutes. It was more than we ever could have emulated in practice.”
Ualbany, which hadn’t played since last March’s America East Conference Tournament, started off hot,
of the Year Lou Lopez-Senechal had 11 points.
“The way I approach this game is it’s our first game, right,” said Siena graduate guard Isis Young, making her Saints debut. “I definitely learned about myself today I’ve got to get in shape a little bit better and have more energy in the second half. I think in the second half I kind of died … I’m really proud of my team. I think we’ve come a long way. I think it’s an upbeat outlook and we’ve got a game tomorrow, so there’s not much time to sulk, right?”
Siena will return to the ARC to face Fairfield at 7 p.m. Saturday, the second of back-to-back games in a revised MAAC format to reduce travel and the spread of COVID -19.
The Saints were missing junior guard Amari Anthony, a preseason third-team ALL-MAAC selection who didn’t dress because she was feeling under the weather and was withheld as a precaution, according to a Siena spokesman. He said everyone in the program tested negative for COVID -19.
Jaques said the trainers will decide whether Anthony can play Saturday.
With Anthony out, Young led the Saints with 19 points and senior guard Rayshel Brown scored 10 points.
Before the game, Brown stood with her left fist raised and put her right hand on the shoulder of teammate Ashley Williamson, the lone Siena player to kneel. Siena players wore warmup shirts that read, “Black Lives Matter” on the front and “Equality ” on the back.
Three Fairfield players kneeled and their team’s shirts stated, “End Racism” on the back.
“We had a conversation as a team, basically saying if people want to express themselves, everybody is going to support everybody,” Brown said. “I just chose that time to express my feelings about all the events going on in the world.”
Once the game started, Siena freshman Ahniysha Jackson of Albany High scored the team’s first points of the 2020-21 season with a 3-pointer. She finished with six points.
“I’m really proud of her from where she started as a (Siena) camper to what she did tonight,” Jaques said. “I’m really proud of her first game.”
The night was an adjustment for Jaques, who wore a mask on the sideline, lowering it at least once to yell instructions to her team.
“My face was sweating,” Jaques said. “It was frustrating, but I don’t care. You can put eight masks on me and I’m still going to be loud and I’m just happy to coach a game.”