Bragging rights not the only thing at stake
There’s a lot on the line Saturday, especially in the way of regional delicacies.
When the University at Albany beats rival Stony Brook in any sport, the athletic department springs for cider donuts. Downstate, a Stony Brook win over Ualbany means bagels.
The women’s basketball teams will fight for bragging rights and baked goods at 2 p.m. Saturday at Island Federal Arena.
Ualbany (11-5, 4-1 America East) is coming off a commanding 69-40 win over UMBC Wednesday morning, less than two days after a heartbreaking 52-49 loss to thenwinless Hartford.
Coming out hot against the Retrievers (Ualbany outscored them 25-10 in the first quarter) reminded the Great Danes of their strengths.
“I think with UMBC showing us what we can really do, showing us that we are still a really good team, we can still work together, really helped us boost our confidence a lot,” sophomore Kayla Cooper said.
“It was a major reset,” coach
Colleen Mullen said. “Being able to be on our home floor, sleep in our own beds, press the restart button and say OK, that’s kind of what we did when we went on that run after Vanderbilt. To face an opponent like Stony Brook, I think it’s the perfect time.”
Eleven Great Danes saw the court against UMBC, giving the players much-needed rest after a stretch of three road games in six days. Mullen had said fatigue played a role in the Hartford loss.
Cooper has been a workhorse for Ualbany, starting in place of Ellen Hahne, who’s missed the past five games. Cooper has scored double-digits each game and grabbed 15 rebounds against previously unbeaten NJIT.
But Cooper isn’t worried about keeping her starting spot when Hahne returns.
“I just think that I’ll always be ready no matter if I’m starting for her or not,” she said.
That unselfishness is the team’s biggest strength, according to Mullen.
“When you have that confidence in wanting to set up your teammates as much as you want to set up yourself, you just have a really dangerous team,” she said.
Ualbany is second in the America East with nearly 14 assists per game, and had 16 against UMBC.
Stony Brook (14-2, 5-1) sits atop the America East, a half-game ahead of Ualbany. The Seawolves’ lone conference loss was a 54-49 result at NJIT. Like the Great Danes, they’re undefeated at home.
Anastasia Warren and India Pagan lead the Stony Brook offense with 12.8 and 12.6 points per game, respectively.
Stony Brook is “just more balanced” in its first year under coach Ashley Langford, Mullen said.
“I think more of their style is an uptempo style,” she added. “This is a lot more of an open type of freeflowing offense, where you have to lock down and defend.”
Freshman Freja Werth said Ualbany’s defense will be key against a Stony Brook team that averages 69.1 points per game, best in the conference. The Great Danes allow an average of 48.2 points, also a conference best.
“I would definitely say that our defense is the most important thing for our team. When we play good defense, we win games,” Werth said.
Senior Lucia Decortes, who returned from a three-game absence against UMBC, is a key part of that. She leads the team in blocks with 22, way ahead of Helene Haegerstrand’s nine, and has the best average (1.7) in the conference. Vermont’s Anna Olson has 25 total.
But ultimately, Werth said, the Great Danes need to play “team defense.”
And if Decortes, or any other Great Dane, gets tired, “we have people who can step up, who are ready to go no matter what,” Cooper said.
Notes: Freshman Lilly Phillips is day-today with an ankle injury, and Mullen said she wasn’t sure about her availability for Stony Brook . ... On Hahne, Mullen said, “we still don’t even have any direction for her illness right now.”