Despite Four in Double Figures, UAlbany WBB Edged in Back-and-Forth Battle to Northeastern 70-67
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
ALBANY, N.Y. – The UAlbany women's basketball team came back to lead the game late after being down 11 but fell to Northeastern 70-67 in its final non-conference home contest of the season.
“We got into foul trouble and we were playing with different lineups,” said UAlbany coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “Second half we did better with our starters in there.”
UAlbany (7-5) was down 40-29 with 17:28 to go to Northeastern (3-6), tying the game up seven minutes later and taking a 65-63 lead on a Cassandra Edwards layup with under two minutes to play. Northeastern got a quick 5-0 run and held off UAlbany in the final minute to win.
Shereesha Richards earned a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, scoring 16 of those points in the second half.
“We were not doing much different, but we let them shoot a lot of shots,” said Richards.
Sarah Royals earned a season-high 14 points, adding five assists to total 359 in her career, putting her third all-time in UAlbany history. Saunders notched a career-high five steals, adding 12 points, while Imani Tate netted 10 points.
For Northeastern, five players scored double figures, led by A'lece Mark's double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Amencie Mercier nearly had a double-double off 14 points and seven assists, as did Francesca Sally with 13 points and seven boards.
Each side employed the full court press to begin the game, forcing turnovers with the pressure. Richards and Tate each stole the ball, leading to scores the other way. Saunders added a jumper to push UAlbany up 8-2 in the opening minutes.
UAlbany kept going into the paint for its shots as both sides defended with the zone. Tiana-Jo Carter and Royals added layups as led 16-7.
Northeastern got help on the perimeter as a couple of Mercier threes pushed the visitors ahead with a 12-2 spurt. The sides exchanged the lead for a span of time, with Royals hitting shots to try to keep UAlbany within striking distance.
With UAlbany's primary frontcourt players in foul trouble, Northeastern hit putback shots and built its lead up. A Tiffany Montange three sparked a 9-1 streak for NU to make it 31-23.
Saunders hit a jumper, followed by Jessica Fequiere netting a putback, in the closing minute of the half to pull UAlbany within four at 31-27 at halftime.
The Huskies hit shots on their first two possessions of the second half, a Frencesca Sally layup and an A'lece Mark wing three, to take a nine-point advantage, later adding two more Sally baskets to go up double digits at 40-29 with 17:09 in the 2nd.
Royals kept going into the paint to force contact and get to the free throw line. A pair of her free throws and a Saunders pull-up jumper was countered by a Sally layup and one. UAlbany kept at it inside the arc, with Tate hitting a floater and Richards adding a coast-to-coast score off the steal. Carter tallied a layup to make it 43-39 NU with 14:35 left.
A couple of layups rebuilt the lead for NU to 47-39. Saunders took control with a personal 6-0 run, started by two baskets. With 10:18 in the 2nd, Edwards rebounded a Richards missed free throw attempt and knocked down the layup to tie the game at 47-47.
At 49-49, Northeastern got free in the paint twice for layups to rebuild its lead to four. Following an exchange of baskets, Richards hit a putback layup and one under the basket to pull UAlbany within a point at 55-54 with 5:42 remaining.
With Samantha DeFreese hitting a couple of layups for NU, again UAlbany looked for Richards underneath. Another layup and one tied the game at 59-59. Back and forth the teams went, with NU taking a lead and UAlbany countering to tie the contest. With 1:59 left, Edwards rebounded a Saunders miss and hit the putback layup to put UAlbany back ahead 65-63.
The other way, Montagne hit a wing three to put NU in front by one. After Saunders got whistled for a charge, Mark hit a jumper down the baseline to make it 68-65 NU. Richards hit a layup with 30 seconds remaining to get UAlbany back within one.
Mercier got fouled in the backcourt hit a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game. Following a missed layup and a deadball rebound, Royals shot a potential game-tying three up top the arc, coming short. Northeastern rebounded and took the 70-67 win.
UAlbany will get right back to work, heading to Chapel Hill to take on top-10 team North Carolina on Tuesday, December 30th at 2 p.m.
