Richards' 29 Points, 18-4 Second Half Run Fuels UAlbany WBB to 72-62 Win at UMBC
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BALTIMORE – With a 50-50 tie game with 9:42 left, the UAlbany women's basketball team used an 18-4 surge to take a 72-62 victory at UMBC on Thursday afternoon to stay in first place with a 6-0 America East record.
“It is really tough to play here; it always has been, it's a great environment,” said UAlbany coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “We made the correct adjustments at halftime defensively.”
UAlbany (13-6, 6-0 AE) pulled away from UMBC (6-13, 1-5 AE) in the 18-4 run over a span of 7:37 in the second half, leading 68-54 with 1:45 remaining.
“We were being patient offensively and reversing the ball,” said Abrahamson-Henderson. “They were all over [Shereesha], and we needed to get her a little more room to move around. Defensively, I talked to our guards to get 'em a bit more and get some steals.”
“It was not the prettiest win, but we came out with the win,” said Shereesha Richards, who earned a double-double shooting 11-18 from the field for 29 points and 14 rebounds. “We stepped up our defense in the second half; we weren't holding them to a certain point in the first half, which is what we normally do.”
With the win, UAlbany remains in first place in the league having won its last 28 America East road games and its last 21 conference games in the month of January.
Shooting 9-of-13 off the bench, Zakiya Saunders netted 18 points with five rebounds and three assists. Imani Tate tallied 11 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals as a reserve. With five assists, Sarah Royals surpassed the 400-assist mark, currently having 401 in her collegiate career.
For UMBC, Capree Garner shot 12-19 for 28 points and seven rebounds. Taylor McCarley concluded with 11 points, three assists and three steals, while Liz McNaughton had nine points.
After Royals hit a shot from the free throw line in the opening possession, UMBC fired away from the three-point line, hitting its first two opportunities. UAlbany countered in the paint, with Richards hitting two wide-open layups to tie the game 6-6 after three minutes.
UMBC kept hitting shots and put together a 9-0 run, including five points from Garner in that span, to build a 15-6 lead. Richards kept hitting layups, scoring 12 of UAlbany's first 14 points, while UMBC countered with jumpers, leading 23-16 with 11:07 left in the 1st.
UAlbany kept going into the paint, with Saunders jumpers sandwiching an 8-0 run, consisting of four made baskets, to push UAlbany in the lead. Garner hit a top of the arc three, then Richards added free throws to make it 26-26 with 7:40 in the 1st.
The home team hit its next two shots, capped by a second-chance McNaughton three, to lead by five. Tiana-Jo Carter and Richards with layups, the second resulting in Royals's 400th career assist, to pull UAlbany within one at 31-30 with 3:54 remaining in the opening period.
Following a Garner jumper, Margarita Rosario hit the wing three off the screen to tie the game. A minute later, Saunders and Richards added layups underneath to complete a 7-0 run and give UAlbany the lead. UMBC tied the game with under a minute in the first, with a Richards free throw giving UAlbany a 38-37 lead going into the locker room.
Shooting stayed hot for UMBC into the second half, with a McNaughton corner three pushing the home team up 44-42. Saunders tied it with a jumper and the teams kept going back and forth over the first part of the second half. UAlbany got the advantage with jumpers, with UMBC responding with its own jumpers. The score was tied 50-50 with 9:42 remaining.
Rosario hit another three off the screen to push UAlbany ahead. Twice, UAlbany attacked in transition, with Saunders hitting layups each time. UAlbany pieced together that 7-0 run in a span in 49 seconds to lead 57-50 with 8:33 left in the 2nd.
The home team stopped the run with a Taylor McCarley jumper. UAlbany struck back, using a Richards layup to spark a mini 6-0 run in just under two minutes, capped by three Tate points, to lead 63-52. Following a UMBC layup, Tate added another layup to make it 65-54 UAlbany with three minutes left.
UAlbany built its lead to 14 at 68-54 with 1:45 left, not leading by less than double digits again. The Great Danes took the win 72-62.
The Great Danes return home for a matchup against rival Hartford, taking on the Hawks at 2 p.m. at the SEFCU Arena on Sunday, January 25th.
