LOWELL, Mass. – Three straight wins to close the regular season for the UMass Lowell women's basketball team (5-21, 4-12 AE) has earned them the seventh seed in the conference tournament. The River Hawks will take on the second seed UAlbany Great Danes (20-10, 14-2 AE) on Wednesday night in the America East Quarterfinal game.
 
March 1 at No. 2 UAlbany (ESPN+ -- 7 p.m.)
 
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All-Time Series: UMass Lowell is 11-19 against UAlbany in program history.
 
First Meeting:      December 9, 1995 (UML, 92-89)
Last Meeting:       February 1, 2023 (UALB, 57-49)
 
The River Hawks and Retrievers meet for the 31st time in program history. UAlbany won both previous meetings this season and have won four straight games against UMass Lowell.  
 
LOOKING AT UMASS LOWELL
The River Hawks won their last three games of the regular season to secure a berth in the America East Championship for the fifth consecutive year. UMass Lowell earned the seventh seed in the tournament after defeating UNH 55-49 in the regular season finale. Jaini Edmonds went off for a career-high 22 points to lead the River Hawks. Kaylen Banwareesingh added a team-high 13 rebounds and 11 points for her fifth double double of the season. Jaliena Sanchez continued to drive the offense and scored eight points with three assists and two steals.
 
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
UAlbany is on the second-longest win streak in the league after a fifth consecutive win in its last game against NJIT. The Great Danes have defeated Bryant, Binghamton, UMBC, Maine and NJIT over the five-game win streak. Helene Haegerstrand and Kayla Cooper have been key figures in UAlbany's success and lead the team, each averaging 14.9 points per game. Cooper leads the team with 159 rebounds while Haegerstrand has a team-high 22 blocks and sits third in the league in scoring. The Great Danes have the best 3FG defense, opponent rebounds and rebound margin in the league.
 
A WIN WOULD
A win would be a fourth straight win for the River Hawks. A win would also snap a four-game losing streak to UAlbany. 
 
LEADING THE FLOCK
Ivory Finley leads the team averaging 9.9 points per game. Fellow sophomore Amaya Dowdy has a team-high 49 blocks and leads the conference averaging 1.9 per game. Dowdy is second on the team with 147 rebounds, behind Kaylen Banwareesingh's 196 rebounds. Jaliena Sanchez has been the main distributor for the River Hawks this season, tallying a team-high 96 assists, third best in the league. Sanchez and Finley have each surpassed 30 steals this season, recording 39 and 38, respectively. The two have also started all 26 games this year, with Sanchez averaging a league-high 37.0 minutes per game.
 
WATCH THOSE HANDS
Through 26 games this season, UMass Lowell has tallied 182 steals. Jaliena Sanchez leads the team with 39 while Ivory Finley has tallied 38. Mili Carrera has 24 and Kaylen Banwareesingh, Amaya Dowdy, Ella Ner and Jaini Edmonds have tallied double digits steals. As a unit, UMass Lowell had a season-best 14 steals against Boston University.
 
CONFERENCE RANKS
The River Hawks rank first in the conference in blocks per game with 3.6 through 26 games. Amaya Dowdy leads the league averaging 1.9 blocks per game. The team sits fourth in the league with 7.0 steals per game and Jaliena Sanchez is seventh in the conference with 1.5 steals per game. Kaylen Banwareesingh is fourth in the league with 8.0 rebounds per game.
 
FREE THROWS
UMass Lowell is 74% from the free throw line as a unit and first in the league. Ivory Finley also sits second in the conference from the line, shooting 81% on 75 makes from 93 attempts. Jaliena Sanchez is close behind, shooting 60-85 for 71% from the line. 
 
POSTSEASON HISTORY
Quarterfinal Appearances:                           
(2018-19) @ UMBC L, 65-73
(2019-20) vs. UMBC W, 66-58
(2020-21) vs. NJIT W, 72-52
(2021-22) vs. NJIT L, 33-47
 
Semifinal Appearances:
(2019-20) @ Maine L, 54-67
 
The River Hawks earned a fifth consecutive America East Tournament berth behind a three-game win streak to end the regular season.
 
This is the first time UMass Lowell and UAlbany meet in the conference tournament.