University of Maine coach Amy Vachon took the time to address the University at Albany women’s basketball team on Sunday after the Black Bears beat the Great Danes 67-47 in their America East semifinal at Memorial Gym in Orono.
Vachon approached Albany head coach Colleen Mullen to ask if she could talk to her players, which caught Mullen off guard.
Mullen said it was quite unorthodox for the Great Danes at first when Vachon approached her.
“You don’t have opposing coaches asking to talk to your team,” said Mullen, who conceded.
Vachon praised the players for overcoming two long shutdowns caused by COVID-19 issues. Three teams, Vermont, Hartford and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, opted out during the season due to the pandemic.
Albany didn’t play a game between Dec. 22 and a two-game series with UMaine on Jan. 16-17, then went from Feb. 7 to Feb. 22 between games.
“I told them I was really impressed with them,” Vachon said. “A lot of teams opted out. They didn’t have just one pause, they had two. And they had a lot of other stuff going on with their team.
“No one would have blamed them for opting out.
Vachon said her message was that the Great Danes should be proud of their perseverance and their performance.
“It was really classy of Amy,” Mullen said. “She told them how impressed she was that they didn’t quit and went on to have a season with the pauses, illnesses and injuries we had.”
Mullen also said Vachon approached UAlbany senior guard Kyara Frames and told her if she didn’t return next season, she would miss watching her play and coaching against her.