Second Half Defense Leads UAlbany's Women's Basketball to 59-47 Win at Binghamton

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Postgame Interviews: Coach Abe | Tiana-Jo Carter | Shereesha Richards

VESTAL, N.Y. – The UAlbany women's basketball team allowed just two field goals in the final 8:20 of the game en route to grinding out a 59-47 victory at Binghamton to remain undefeated in America East play.

Down 13-2 early in the game, UAlbany (14-3, 5-0 AE) rallied to take an eight-point lead in the third quarter.  Binghamton (7-10, 2-2 AE) got to within a point at 46-45 with 5:27 left.  UAlbany's zone defense held the rest of the way with a late 7-0 Great Danes run securing the victory.

“The first half was the grinder; the second half, we did a better job in getting back to what our gameplan was,” said UAlbany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “We only allowed 17 points in the second half after we came out ready to go.”

As a team, UAlbany outrebounded the Bearcats 46-32 and had 36 points in the paint compared to 14 for Binghamton.

Tiana-Jo Carter finished with a career-high 18 points, including 15 in the first half, adding seven rebounds.  Shereesha Richards earned her seventh double-double of the year with 15 points and 13 rebounds.  Zakiya Saunders earned 16 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals while Imani Tate tallied 10 points and six rebounds.

“We knew coming in today, [Binghamton] was not going to be an easy team,” said Carter. “We really needed to play our defense; we struggled in the first half defensively, but offensively it helped out that Shereesha [Richards] was being guarded, and it opened things up for us.

For Binghamton, Kim Albrecht shot 4-6 from three and concluded with 20 points and five rebounds.  Alyssa James had a double-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

On Thursday, UAlbany meets rival Stony Brook at the SEFCU Arena for a 7 p.m. match.  If UAlbany wins, it will stand alone in first place in the America East.

UAlbany tried to force the ball into the paint in the early going, leading to turnovers.  Binghamton hit its first couple of three-point shots, then after Richards hit a layup, Albrecht netted the first five points on a 7-0 run to give the home team an early 13-2 advantage in the first 5:37.

After a timeout, UAlbany looked to the baseline to end the run.  Tate started the run with a baseline drive and layup, followed by Carter hitting two layups in a row.  Tate added another kick out jumper as the UAlbany defense cut into the deficit with an 8-0 run to pull within three.

Binghamton added two baskets to UAlbany's one the rest of the quarter to lead 17-12 after one.

UAlbany continued its strategy to attack down low into the second quarter.  After Albrecht hit another three, Carter hit a layup and one to pull UAlbany within five at 20-15.

Down 24-17, Carter again kept up the scoring, earning two layups in a row, the second off a double team on Richards and bounce pass to Carter.  Saunders added a coast-to-coast steal and score and a pull-up jumper.  The 8-0 run put UAlbany in the lead 25-24 with three minutes left in the half.

The two sides went back and forth with lead changes as each found their mark in the paint.  In the closing seconds of the first half, Saunders drove into the paint off a Carter screen and hit a layup while fouled, giving UAlbany a 31-30 at the half.

Into the second half, defensive pressure on both sides forced long shots.  The two continued to exchange as Saunders hit a couple of long jumpers, countered by an Imani Watkins-three and a pair of Albrecht free throws, leading to a 35-35 tie score.

UAlbany's zone defense held against Watkins's long shots towards the end of the shot clock in the coming possessions.  Richards used a layup and three in transition to spark a 7-0 run to give the visitors a 42-35 lead.  UAlbany held Binghamton without points for over four minutes as the Great Danes led 44-38 after three.

Binghamton spread the floor in its first few possessions of the fourth quarter to try to stretch the UAlbany zone.  It led to an opening 5-0 run into the quarter, capped by another Albrecht three, to pull the home team within one at 44-43 with 8:18 left.  With 5:27 left, UAlbany led 46-45.

While the zone defense kept Binghamton to mid-range shots, Tate sparked a run with two jumpers.  Richards and Carter added free throws after being fouled on transition plays for a 7-0 run over four minutes to build the lead to 53-45 with 1:30 left.

Off a James layup, Binghamton pulled to within two possession, but UAlbany held with late free throws and did not allow any more points, taking the victory 59-47.