UAlbany WBB Hosts Vermont for Big Purple Growl
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ALBANY, N.Y. – The Great Danes honor an annual UAlbany tradition on Saturday, February 1st, kicking off the Big Purple Growl with a 5 p.m. contest against Vermont at the SEFCU Arena.
The game, along with the men’s game later, will be broadcast on ESPN3. WCDB 90.9 FM will also carry the game on radio.
On Thursday, UAlbany came back from down eight at halftime to defeat Stony Brook 66-51, preserving first place in the America East with an 8-0 conference record and 18-3 overall tally and continuing a nine-game winning streak. Vermont fell to Hartford at home on Wednesday 64-51, its third defeat in the last four games, to come into Saturday’s game at 3-5 in the league, a sixth-place standing, and 6-15 overall.
Vermont leads the all-time series against UAlbany 17-10, but the Great Danes are 8-0 versus the Catamounts under Abrahamson-Henderson, including a 94-49 win in Burlington on January 9th.
UAlbany has been second to none in the America East the last three years, winning its last 31 conference games. Its last league loss came January 28th, 2012, a 62-55 loss to Hartford.
Shereesha Richards, a sophomore, has scored 459 points through the team’s first 20 games and is on pace to smash UAlbany’s single season scoring record. The current UAlbany single season scoring record is still held by Ebone Henry, who scored 473 points in the 2011-12 season. Sarah Royals, who is three assists away from moving into ninth all-time in UAlbany history in that category, averages 12.3 points per contest, while Megan Craig, coming off her second double-double of 18 points and 12 board against Stony Brook, comes in with 10.9 points a game.
Vermont comes into Saturday’s game standing in the top-three in the America East in rebounding margin, three-point shooting and free throw shooting. The Catamounts will play three of their next four games on the road for the next two weeks. Head coach Lori Gear McBride enters season number four with the team. The team’s top scorer, junior forward Kayla Burchill, averages 10.9 points a game but has missed the last few games due to a concussion. Fellow junior forward Niki Taylor is averaging 10.4 points and six rebounds a contest, while the leading rebounder is freshman guard Kylie Butler at 6.3 boards a game, averaging 8.9 points a contest.
