by MARK SINGELAIS STAFF WRITER , The Times-Union

"It's really unstoppable when you get it going," Patterson said. "It takes a while to get good at it. A lot of coaches don't like it because they don't like waiting because 'We need to do this now.' "

Patterson, entering her eighth season, is willing to be patient, even though she's in the final year of her contract with a team that went 6-25 and finished tied for last place in the America East Conference last season.

On top of that, Patterson saw her top two scorers transfer out of the program as guards Janea Aiken and Britney McGee headed for Division II C.W. Post and Division I Cal State-Bakersfield, respectively.

Not surprisingly, the coaches' preseason poll picked the Great Danes to finish last again.

"You always get picked by what you do the previous year," Patterson said. "If you don't do well, you don't expect to get picked any higher."

Patterson said she's encouraged by the arrival of what's ranked as the America East's top recruiting class by All-Star Girls Report. Her projected starting five includes two newcomers in 5-foot-8 point guard Cassandra Calloway of Bayonne, N.J., and 6-1 forward Keyana Williams of Kingston.

The other starters are returnees in senior guard Charity Iromuanya, junior forward Kim Clements and sophomore forward Tabitha Makopondo.

They're learning to run the triangle offense, which Patterson adopted from renowned Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who played one season at UAlbany and has gone on to win 700 games and two NCAA titles with the Cardinal.

"It gives you floor spacing," Patterson explained. "You have to have your continuity and it's our continuity. It's been proven that it works. (Players) really love it."

Two seasons ago, Patterson went into the final year of her contract and won America East Coach of the Year honors to earn a two-year deal. Now again her future is uncertain.

"The pressure comes the year before the contract (year), the pressure comes the year of the contract (expiring)," Patterson said. "You just do the best you can and try not to put pressure on your players. That's when you have problems."

Mark Singelais can be reached at 454-5509 or by e-mail at msingelais@timesunion.com

BOX:

UAlbany Schedule

Date Opponent Time

Nov. 13 at Fordham 6 p.m.

Nov. 19 at N. Jersey Tech 7 p.m.

Nov. 23 ST. FRANCIS (NY) 7 p.m.

Nov. 25 at Hofstra 7 p.m.

Nov. 29 CORNELL 2 p.m.

Dec. 2 at Canisius 7 p.m.

Dec. 5 at Siena 5 p.m.

Dec. 12 WAGNER 2 p.m.

Dec. 19 ARMY 2 p.m.

Dec. 23 FAIRFIELD 5 p.m.

Dec. 30 at Nebraska 8 p.m.

Jan. 2 RHODE ISLAND 2 p.m.

Jan. 6 at Brown 7 p.m.

Jan. 10 at Vermont* 2 p.m.

Jan. 13 UMBC* 7 p.m.

Jan. 16 at Boston U.* 2 p.m.

Jan. 19 at Stony Brook* 7 p.m.

Jan. 22 N. HAMPSHIRE* 7 p.m.

Jan. 24 at Hartford* 2 p.m.

p.m.

Jan. 30 at Binghamton* 2 p.m.

Feb. 6 Vermont 4:30 p.m.

Feb. 10 Stony Brook 7 p.m.

Feb. 13 BOSTON U. 2 p.m.

Feb. 15 Binghamton 7 p.m.

Feb. 18 at UMBC 7 p.m.

Feb. 21 at New Hampshire 1 p.m.

Feb. 24 Hartford 7 p.m.

Feb. 27 at Maine 7 p.m.

March 4-7, America East Tournament, Chase Family Arena, West Hartford, Conn.

March 14, America East Championship TBA (at highest remaining seed)

# Times Union Center

* America East game

BOX:

UAlbany roster

No Name Cl. Pos. Ht. Hometown

25 Cristina Centeno So. G/F 5-8 Belleville, N.J.

1 Cassandra Callaway So. G 5-7 Bayonne, N.J.

3 Melia Basavand Jr. G 5-5 Glendale, Calif.

5 Ebone Henry Fr. G/F 5-10 San Diego

11 Julie Forster Fr. F 6-0 Huntington

14 Kim Clements Jr. G/F 5-10 Waterbury, Conn.

20 Kate Cronin So. F 6-0 Amityville

21 Keyana Williams Fr. F 6-2 Kingston

22 Felicia Johnson So. G 5-4 Newport News, Va.

23 Charity Iromuanya Sr. G 5-8 Lincoln, Neb.

24 Adrienne Jones So. G 5-7 Waldorf, Md.

30 Jasmine Blakemore Fr. F/C 6-1 Houston

31 Delaney Cohen So. F 6-1 Boothwyn, Pa.

32 Terika Lunsford Fr. G 5-10 Suffolk, Va.

33 Tabitha Makopondo So. F 6-1 Gainesville, Fla.

Coaching staff: Trina Patterson, head coach; Melissia Patterson, Vonn Read, Phil Collins, assistant coaches.

Copyright 2009 The Hearst Corporation All Rights Reserved
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.