ALBANY - Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson has continued to promise to her team that their hard work will pay off.

"They're working harder than they've ever worked before," the first year UAlbany coach said on Thursday.

The Great Danes (3-0, 10-6) are 3-0 in the America East Conference for the first time in program history and their 10 wins are the most in the entire league.

"This is a big thing for everybody," said junior guard Cassandra Callaway.

UAlbany got off to a 7-3 start, but then lost three games in a row, right before conference play began.

"We knew that we had to get it together somehow and it had to work," Callaway said. "We just had to bounce back and work harder in practice."

Their coach said it was just a matter of making adjustments and their pressure defense has changed things up.

"When we press and get steals and get our energy going defensively, it ignites our offense," said Abrahamson-Henderson.

The Great Danes have defeated New Hampshire, Hartford and Maine in league play.

Their most recent win was extra special for their coach, as she was an assistant at Maine from 1992-94.

Abrahamson-Henderson recruited current Maine coach Cindy Blodgett to play for the Black Bears.

UAlbany broke a tie score at halftime by outscoring Maine by 15 to take home the 65-50 victory.

The team says their mentality has been taking it one game at a time.

"For them, it's not about the future," Abrahamson-Henderson said. "It's about the now."

The Great Danes next game is a first place showdown against Boston University (3-0, 6-9) on Saturday at 3 p.m. at SEFCU Arena.

"It's huge," said Callaway about the matchup.