Burlington,
Vt. - Ebone Henry scored a game-high 18 points to go along with four steals and
two assists to lead UAlbany to a 59-56 win over Vermont in America East
Conference women's basketball action at Patrick Gym on Wednesday evening. The
Great Danes, who have now won five straight conference games for the second
time this season, improve to a Division I program best 18-9 overall, and 12-2
in league play.
After Vermont jumped out to an early
9-2 lead on a 3-pointer by Kayla Burchill, UAlbany came battling back, getting
a conventional three-point play from Adrienne Jones and a trey from Henry to
cut the advantage to one. Jones hit a jumper with 14:00 on the clock to give UAlbany
its first lead of the game. The teams battled back and forth, exchanging the
lead several times before the Great Danes took a 23-17 lead on a free throw by
Julie Forster with 8:12 left in the first half.
Vermont
rallied to tie the game twice with just under four minutes to go, but UAlbany
regained a seven-point advantage on a layup by Sarah Royals at 2:32. Jones went
1-for-2 from the line with just over a minute left to play before the
Catamounts pulled back within five, 28-33 on a jumper by Burchill and one free
throw from Annie Wheeler with just eight ticks on the clock to set the halftime
deficit at 33-28.
UAlbany
continued to roll to start the second half, getting a layup by Royals and a
3-pointer by Henry after a Forster steal to take the first double-digit lead of
the game less than two minutes into play. Vermont used two sets of made free
throws by Ashley Hoyt and Niki Taylor to cut the Great Dane advantage back to
six with 16:10 to play. The Catamounts rallied from there, as Shanai Heber went
4-of-4 from the free throw line in less than a minute, and Tierra Shumpert hit
back-to-back jumprs to take a 43-42 lead with 11:38 to play.
The
Great Danes rebounded, however, and went on a 7-0 run to take a 49-43 lead on a
free throw by Royals with just under 10 minutes to play. UAlbany was unable to
get comfortable with the lead, as Vermont rallied once again, cutting the
deficit to one, 53-52, on a 3-pointer by Hoyt with 6:07 on the clock. The
Catamounts retook the lead at 4:18, on a layup by Shumpert, but UAlbany
responded with a lay-in by Cyndra Couch to jump back in front by one, 55-54.
Hoyt hit a jumper to put Vermont back on top, but a layup by Forster gave the
Great Danes a 57-56 lead with just over two minutes to play. Henry sunk two
free throws as the clock fell to under a minute, and Vermont was unable to connect
any of their final three shots to seal up UAlbany's 18th win.
Hoyt
finished with a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds for Vermont (9-18,
AE 3-11), while Taylor recorded eight points and 13 boards, as the Catamounts
out-rebounded the Great Danes, 53-44. Shumpert scored a team-high 17 points,
going 7-of-18 from the floor.
Jones,
who played all 40 minutes for the Great Danes, added 12 points, going 6-of-7
from the free throw line. Forster pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds and
chipped in with eight points, five steals and four blocks. The Great Danes shot
34.9 percent (22-63) from the floor, while holding Vermont to 27.9 percent
(19-68) shooting.
UAlbany
will return to action on Saturday, visiting league-leading Boston U. in a key
conference matchup at 3 p.m.
