UAlbany WBB Seeks Eighth Straight Win, Hosts UMBC

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ALBANY, N.Y. – Riding a seven-game winning streak, UAlbany comes back to the court after taking the weekend off, taking on UMBC on Tuesday, January 28th at the SEFCU Arena at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the game are $ 10 for chairback seats, $ 5 for reserved adult seating and $ 2 for kids and seniors.  Faculty and staff may get a ticket free with a ticket purchase, and students enter free with a university ID.

The Great Danes secured sole possession of first place in the conference on Thursday after an 88-47 victory over New Hampshire, then undefeated in league play, improving to 6-0 in the America East and 16-3 overall.  UMBC has fallen in its last six conference contests, the last a 65-55 home defeat to Hartford on Saturday, to enter Tuesday at 2-17 overall and 1-6 in the America East.

Winning the last five meetings, UAlbany leads the all-time series against UMBC 12-9.  Last time, UAlbany defeated UMBC at SEFCU 85-41 on February 6, 2013.

Shereesha Richards has been selected as the America East Player of the Week for the ninth time this season after earning double digit points in a pair of America East victories.  She is closing in on another UAlbany record; she is just three field goals away from tying the record held by Rainny Lesane, who had 179 field goals in the 1984-85 season.

The Great Danes rank eighth in all of Division I and first in the conference in field goal-percentage at 48.0% on the season.   Sarah Royals, who shoots 45.5%, is averaging 12.6 points and 4.8 assists per game, each in the top-six of the conference.  Megan Craig is second in the America East with an 58.5% field goal percentage, scoring 10.9 points a contest.

UMBC, a team that sports nine players with one year of varsity experience or less, including seven freshmen, won its first conference game on January 4th before falling in its last six.  12th year head coach Phil Stern is one of three active conference coaches with an America East title, getting it in the 2006-07 season.  Forward Sara Tarbert leads all America East freshmen and the Retrievers in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.8 points and seven boards a game.  Another freshman, Emily Russo, runs the floor with 5.6 points, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per contest.