Albany, N.Y. - Freshman Chantell Alford scored 21 of her game-high 26 points in the second half to help Boston University rally for a 69-65 victory over UAlbany in a battle between two of the youngest teams in the America East Conference on Saturday, Feb. 13 at SEFCU Arena. After a slow start, the Terriers shot 75 percent from long range and 55.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes to earn their fourth win in their last five games.
     Trailing 32-22 at the break, Boston U. (13-11, AE 9-3), which starts two freshmen and two sophomores, chipped away at the double-digit deficit and took its first lead, 46-44, when Alford canned a 3-pointer with 9:12 on the clock. A 3-point field goal from the right corner by Ebone Henry, who was named UAlbany's player of the game, at the 5:38 mark put the Great Danes ahead by a point after the hosts had tied the game up on two occasions.
     Following a Terrier timeout, Alford drove in for a layup on the left side to put the visitors up by a 55-54 score. UAlbany kept fighting back and trimmed the lead down to just two points on five occasions. Despite getting to the line, the hosts missed four of their next five free throws while the Terriers made eight of their nine attempts in the final five minutes to hold on for the four-point victory.
     "We did a great job of breaking apart their 2-3 zone in the first half, but they switched to play a lot of man-to-man in the second and we weren't ready for it," said head coach Trina Patterson, whose team concludes a four-game homestand when it hosts Binghamton on Monday, Feb. 15. "We were so geared up for their zone, but we did not execute against their man-to-man in the second half. We were not committed defensively, and we allowed them to shoot 55 percent in the second half and over 80 percent from the line."
     UAlbany (8-16, AE 1-10), which was coming off an overtime win against Stony Brook, scored 16 of the game's first 21 points and jumped out to a 22-8 lead. The Great Danes outrebounded the Terriers by a 33-18 margin in the stanza, including 15 offensive boards.
     Mo Moran, who was named the league's rookie of the week for the third time on Monday, keyed a comeback by the visitors to close out the half. With her club trailing 27-13, the freshman guard drove in for three layups and converted a free throw on an old-fashioned three-point play. Felicia Johnson set up Keyana Williams for a short jumper and made one of her three shots from downtown before the final horn sounded to put the Great Danes ahead by 10 at the recess.
     "Free throws (hurt us in the end), but I was extremely pleased with our rebounding," added Patterson, whose squad held a commanding 54-38 advantage on the glass and grabbed 26 boards on the offensive end. "We have not outrebounded a team like that in a long time."
     Alford, the Terrriers player of the game, also contributed three steals and three blocks defensively to go along with her second-half offensive outburst which included canning five 3-pointers. Moran finished with 12 points and a game-high six assists, while Alex Young netted 14. Henry, who set a Division I record for points by a freshman in the Stony Brook win, led the Great Danes with 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to fall just short of a double-double. Johnson added 19 points and a career-best eight rebounds.

Boston U. 69 UAlbany 65 (2/13/10 at Albany, N.Y. - SEFCU Arena)

Boston University 69

ALBANY 65