Women's Basketball Holds Off Hartford For 65-50 Win

HARTFORD, Conn. – The University at Albany women's basketball team held off the hosting University of Hartford Hawks for a 65-50 victory Thursday night at Chase Family Arena. With the win, UAlbany improved to 20-8 overall and 13-2 in the America East, while the Hawks fell to 13-16 on the season and 7-8 in conference play. In addition, the Great Danes have secured the No. 2 seed in the America East Tournament with the outcomes from around the league tonight.

Sophomore guard Imani Tate led UAlbany with 17 points accompanied by four rebounds and three assists. Junior Shereesha Richards followed with 16 points and nine rebounds.

“It was a really balanced scoring effort from the team tonight,” said Head Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. The squad's 65 points were distributed across seven players, including Tiana-Jo Carter's nine points, Zakiya Saunders' eight, and Sarah Royals' seven.

While Hartford tied the score three times and cut the deficit to two points midway through the second half, UAlbany held the advantage from the tip.

Trading baskets through the opening minutes, the margin stretched no larger than four points until the 10:25 mark when Royals' drive to the hoop gave the Great Danes a 16-10 lead.

Despite Darby Lee's jumper that cut the deficit back to four, 16-12, the Great Danes went on a 7-2 run to take a nine-point advantage, 23-14, with 5:04 left in the first half. Saunders' jumper from the short corner and her bucket on the inbounds set up Margarita Rosario's run-capping three.  

The Great Danes earned its largest lead of the half  -- 11 points -- on another Saunders jumper with 2:31 remaining. On their next possession, Hartford's Amber Bepko responded with a layup, making the score 27-18 at the half.

Out of the break, Rosario knocked down a three, giving the Danes a 30-18 advantage. From there, points came in waves for both squads, as Hartford used a 9-0 run to cut the margin to three, 30-27, at the 16-minute mark thanks to back-to-back long threes by Morgan Lumb and Bepko.

UAlbany built its advantage back to nine, 36-27, on Royals' three-point play and steal leading to Richards' layup on the break.

However, that's when the hosts got hot from behind the arc. Bepko hit one three and Lumb knocked down two in the Hawks' 11-4 run, bringing the Hawks within two, 44-42, with 9:30 remaining.

That would be as close as Hartford would get, however, as buckets by Tate, Richards, and Carter, as well as a pair of free throws each for Tate and Richards ballooned the margin to 12, 52-42, with 6:21 remaining. 

“It was kind of like the last game – it was close – so the last game really helped us for this game in terms of being poised even if they scored a lot of points and hit some threes,” said Abrahamson-Henderson. “In a timeout, I reminded them that we need to settle down, be poised, play defense, and be patient on offense, and that's what we did.”

From there, Tate led the Great Danes in the final minutes, putting the game away. Tate scored eight of her game-high 17 points in the last seven minutes of the game, including a three-point play that gave UAlbany a 15-point advantage, 61-46, with 2:10 left.

Trading baskets in the closing minute, Saunders had the last say with her layup with 17 second left, making the final 65-50 score.

UAlbany outshot Hartford from the field 43.1 percent (25-58) to 38.9 percent (21-54), as well as 50 percent (2-4) to 27.8 percent (5-18) from three. The Great Danes controlled the charity stripe, as well, making 13-of-15 attempts (86.7 percent) compared to the Hawks' 3-for-4 effort (75 percent).

Up next, UAlbany closes out the regular season on Sunday, hosting Vermont at 2 p.m. The Great Danes will honor seniors Sarah Royals and Margarita Rosario.