By Brian DePasquale
University at Albany Director of Athletics and Recreation Lee McElroy announced on September 13 the men’s and women’s basketball schedules for the 2000-2001 season. The Great Danes are competing as a NCAA Division I independent for the second straight year.
Big East Conference member Syracuse, which advanced to the 2000 NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional, and NIT Tournament participant California highlight the men’s away schedule.
The Great Danes will also meet Northeast Conference champion Central Connecticut State in the Mohegan Sun Classic and possibly Utah State, who reached the NCAA’s first round with a 28-6 record, and was unbeaten in Big West Conference play, in the Gossner Foods Classic in Logan, Utah.
The Great Danes have a 13-game home schedule at the Recreation and Convocation Center. Lafayette, the Patriot League champion, Harvard, Army, Colgate, Bucknell, Monmouth and Dartmouth are among those teams who will visit the UAlbany campus.
Scott Beeten, who was hired as Albany’s head coach on August 1, has seven letterwinners returning off last year’s 11-17 squad. Will Brand, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, is the top returning scorer (11.2 ppg) and rebounder (5.9 pg).
The UAlbany women’s schedule features a challenging 13-game home slate, including Mississippi State, a 24-win club in the Southeastern Conference who was ranked 12th in the final Associated Press national poll. Dartmouth, the Ivy League champion, Harvard and Pennsylvania are among the other home opponents. The Great Danes will open the season with a two-game trip to Colorado and Denver, plus play in Lehigh University’s Christmas Classic and Stetson University’s Hatter Classic.
Head coach Mari Warner is in her 19th season at the helm, and will build her club around seniors Liz Tucker, a 5-foot-10 forward, and Dawn DiMicco, a 5-foot-5 guard. Tucker averaged 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds, while DiMicco scored at a 6.4 clip. The Great Danes finished their inaugural Division I campaign with a 12-15 record.
There are three home men’s and women’s doubleheaders this season. All three dates fall on Saturday evenings with the women scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the men to follow at 7:30 p.m. On January 27, the women meet Dartmouth and the men play Stony Brook. Both UAlbany teams face Army on February 3 and Bucknell on February 24.
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