Durham, N.H. ? Amy Simpson scored a game-high 18 points while Candace Williams just missed a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds to lead New Hampshire to a 66-54 win over UAlbany in America East Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium.

UAlbany (3-15, AE 1-4) led the game for the majority of the first half, building up to a seven point lead, 23-16, on back-to-back baskets by Janea Aiken with 7:56 left to play in the stanza. New Hampshire pulled back within five, 23-18, on two free throws by Lauren Wells, but the teams then exchanged baskets with UAlbany taking a 27-20 advantage on a jumper in the paint by Tiffanie Johnson.

The Wildcats then scored five unanswered points to get within two before Aiken hit a three-pointer to end the New Hampshire rally with just under two minutes left in the half. Simpson responded with a trey of her own and Simpson knocked down another jumper to get within one, 31-30, with less than a minute on the clock. UAlbany's Tabitha Makopondo dropped in two of her eight points with nine ticks remaining to set the 33-30 halftime score.

The Wildcats used 52-percent shooting from the field in the second half to reverse the deficit, taking a 39-37 lead on a Williams jumper at 17:40 and never looking back. After New Hampshire built up a 43-37 advantage, UAlbany cut it to one, 43-42, with consecutive baskets. Britney McGee canned one of her three 3-pointers followed by a jump shot by Aiken, before the Wildcats scored seven unanswered points to build their lead back to eight, 50-42, with 12:51 to play.

New Hampshire (5-14, AE 3-2) continued to add to its lead, getting ahead by as many as 14, 62-48, as Simpson grabbed an offensive rebound and followed with the putback with 4:36 left in the game. Abigail LaRosa connected on both ends of two free throws to give the Wildcats the game's biggest lead, 64-49, with 3:31 on the clock. Freshman Adrienne Jones dropped in a three-pointer with just over a minute left to play to cut the deficit to 12 and set the final score.

“Again, we have to figure out a way to fix things in the second half,” said UAlbany head coach Trina Patterson, whose club has now dropped eight games when leading or tied at the half. “Our performance (in the last 20 minutes) is not up to par. We did a good job in the first half, but they had a big run in the first five minutes of the second with Candace Williams. We were not able to recover after that.”

Aiken led all UAlbany players with 14 points, while McGee added 11, going 4-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three point range. Makopondo finished with a team-high five rebounds and added two bocks and a steal. Kate Early was the third player in double figures for New Hampshire, chipping in 12 to go along with six boards, four assists and two steals. The Wildcats outrebounded UAlbany by a slim 37-36 margin, but held the Great Danes to 35.1 percent (20-57) shooting from the floor, while hitting 45.3 percent (24-53) of their shots for the game.