ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Last month, the University at Albany women's basketball team pulled off its first upset win against a major program since 2016, taking down Syracuse University at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Great Danes face another opportunity to knock off a Power Four program Friday.
UAlbany will travel to Wisconsin out of the Big Ten Conference. The Badgers own a 9-2 record this year, and have yet to lose a game at their home arena: the Kohl Center. Friday's game is also "Kids Day," so the crowd will be more strident than usual.
UAlbany is off to its best start in the program's Division I history: 10-1. Head coach Colleen Mullen has all the confidence in her team to go out and put up a fight against the Badgers, especially after seeing what this group managed to pull off at Syracuse.
"We didn't just play Syracuse close, we defeated them," said Mullen. "It wasn't by chance. Hope wasn't the strategy. We went down in the first quarter significantly - by double-digits - and they just hung in there and stuck together. And they executed a game plan against post players that were bigger; that are athletic; that are terrific rebounders. So, I think that gives us a lot of confidence. However, Wisconsin's a much different team than Syracuse. And it's going to be a different environment. We're getting on a plane. It's an 11:00 a.m. (CST) game. They (Wisconsin) already get a big crowd, plus there's going to be screaming kids. There's going to be a lot of adversity thrown our way, but I know the players are going to take advantage of the opportunity and certainly be ready to play."
UAlbany will have its hands full with one of the top post players in the country: Serah Williams, who's averaging a double-double this season with 19.3 points per game and 12.3 rebounds per game.
Having held up well against the height of the Orange, the Danes have adopted a mentality for matchups against these top-tier programs that may outsize them.
"I think it's just staying hungry and knowing that this is a defensive game," said junior center Gabriela Falcão. "We have to be focused on the details of this game - especially with [Williams]. She's a really good post player. Just keying in on her tendencies is gonna be a big key."
Opening tip-off from Madison is set for 12:00 p.m. (EST). The game will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus.
