Albany, N.Y.
- Megan Craig scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor
to lead UAlbany to a 69-37 victory over Binghamton in America East Conference
women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at SEFCU Arena. With the win,
the Great Danes improve their record to 20-9 overall, and 14-2 in league play.
It is the first time in Division I history, and the first time since the 1991-92
season, that UAlbany has won 20 or more games.
After Binghamton's Orla O'Reilly hit
a 3-pointer 43 seconds into play, neither team scored until the 13:49 mark of
the first half when Julie Forster hit a jumper in the paint for the Great
Danes. The teams went back-and-forth, tying the game at 9-9 on a trey by
Binghamton's Andrea Holmes. After another long-range shot put the Bearcats up,
12-9, UAlbany kicked into high gear, and scored the game's next 18 points.
Craig scored seven of those points for the Great Danes, while two free throws
by Forster with 36 seconds on the clock gave UAlbany a 26-12 lead. O'Reilly
ended the run with a jumper for Binghamton with 20 seconds left, but Lindsey
Lowrie sank a bucket with just nine ticks on the clock to send the Great Danes
to the locker room with a 28-14 lead.
UAlbany continued to roll coming out
of the halftime break, and build up a 21-point lead, 42-21, on a 3-pointer by
Lowrie at 14:41. O'Reilly responded with a trey of her own at the Binghamton
end of the floor, but the Bearcat defense could not contain the Great Danes, as
they extended their advantage to 25 on back-to-back treys off Binghamton
turnovers by Ebone Henry and Cassandra Callaway. Viive Rebane made two free
throws to try to spur the Bearcats into action, but another long-range shot by
Callaway at 7:35 put the Great Danes up, 60-30. Binghamton was cable to cut the
lead back to 27 on a jumper by Jasbriell Swain, but UAlbany continued to roll,
as a free throw by Sarah Royals set the score at 67-33 with under two minutes
to play. Cyndra Couch laid the ball in with under a minute to play, while two
made free throws by Binghamton's Kyra Aloizos set the final score.
O'Reilly and Holmes led the Bearcats
with eight points each, while Swain totaled seven points and six rebounds for
Binghamton (12-16, AE 6-9).
Craig scored her 19 points in 19
minutes of action off the bench, leading three players in double-digit scoring
totals. Henry netted 12 points and recorded seven rebounds, five assists and
two steals, while Callaway totaled 10 points, three helpers and two steals.
Forster controlled the game off the boards, pulling down a game-high 11 caroms,
as UAlbany out-rebounded Binghamton, 43-26. The Great Danes shot 44.1 percent
(26-59) from the floor, while holding Binghamton to 27.3 percent (12-44)
shooting.
UAlbany (20-9, AE 14-2) will wait to
see how the conference standings wrap up over the weekend, determining the
Great Danes' seeding and first America East tournament opponent.
