By Christian Hince | November 13, 2023
This past week saw the following outcomes for University at Albany sports:
Great Dane guard Kayla Cooper in the team’s season opener on Nov. 6.
Photo Credit: Bruce Dudek / UAlbany Athletics
Monday, Nov. 6:
Women’s basketball held off a fourth quarter comeback in their first game of the season, winning 58-55 at Merrimack. Guard Sarah Karpell scored 17 points in her first game with UAlbany, which included a 7-11 mark from the charity stripe and 2-3 shooting beyond the arc, also adding five rebounds.
Tuesday, Nov. 7:
Men’s basketball was overwhelmed 92-71 in their season opener at UMass in a game where they trailed by as much as 30. Guard Sebastian Thomas led UAlbany’s scoring in his team debut with 19 points, including 6-7 from the free throw line and 3-4 from three. Forward Aaron Reddish nearly had a double-double off the bench with nine points and eight rebounds.
Friday, Nov. 10:
Women’s cross country ended their year by placing 24th of 37 at the Northeast Regional XC Championships. Amanda Chambers paced the team again in 40th with a personal best 6K of 20:48.7, the fourth fastest in UAlbany history. The team’s scoring gap of 2:36.9 was set by Alondra Cruz-Delgado who finished 131st in 22:07.5.
Women’s basketball lost a down-to-the-wire contest at Fordham, 66-63. Three Great Danes reached double-digit scoring, with Helene Haegerstand leading at 14 points with a 5-10 mark from the field.
Kayla Cooper scored 13 points on 4-8 shooting and 5-6 from the charity stripe, adding seven rebounds, while guard Megan Huerter’s 11 points included a 3-4 mark from three in her second game as a Great Dane. Freshman big Deja Evans nearly double-doubled with nine points and rebounds each.
Saturday, Nov. 11:
Football trampled a now 0-10 Stony Brook team on the road 38-20. Reese Poffenbarger went 20-28 passing for 247 yards, 4 touchdowns and an interception, throwing two touchdowns to Julian Hicks and one each to Brevin Easton and Levi Wentz.
Griffin Woodell rushed in the triple digits for a third time this season with a career-high 136 yards alongside a touchdown, and linebacker Dylan Kelly led UAlbany in tackles with 14. He leads the Football Championship Subdivision in total tackles with 135. The Great Danes, ranked #25 in the FCS coming into Saturday, now sit at 8-3 overall and 6-1 in conference with one regular season game left.
Men’s basketball held on at Columbia 78-75, warding off a comeback after leading by 11 with nearly 12 minutes left. Sebastian Thomas played 39 of 40 minutes, leading the team with 24 points from 7-16 shooting and 9-10 at the free throw line, adding seven rebounds.
Power forward Jonathan Beagle double-doubled with 20 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 9-12 from the field, while guards Amar’e Marshall and Tyler Bertram hit double digits with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Sunday, Nov. 12:
Volleyball was swept in three sets at UMBC in their season finale. UAlbany saw late one-point deficits in the first and second turn into losses of 25-20 and 25-23 before falling 25-14 in the third. Zocia Szczotkiewicz totaled 24 assists as the primary setter, adding three blocks, while Campbell Robinson led the team with four.
Three Great Danes reached double digit digs, with Elisavet Papageorgiou, Sthefany Carvalho and Shynelle Woroniuk totaling 14, 13, and 11 respectively. UAlbany ends the year on a five-game losing streak with a final record of 2-7 in the America East and 7-18 overall.