UAlbany Women's Basketball Grounds Hartford Hawks 78-41 to Complete America East First Half Sweep
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
Postgame Interviews: Coach Abe | Zakiya Saunders | Cassandra Edwards
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Shooting 64.7% from the field and holding its opponent to 11 points or less each quarter, the UAlbany women's basketball crushed Hartford 78-41 on the road to earn a first half sweep in America East play for the fourth straight year.
With the victory, UAlbany (17-3, 8-0 AE) has won nine straight games and holds first place in the America East. UAlbany never trailed after the second minute of play against Hartford (8-13, 4-4 AE), outrebounding its opponent 35-14 and forcing a season-best 16 steals.
“Everyone knows that defense is what we always talk about, we did a great job on their go-to players and post players,” said UAlbany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “Offensively, Erin [Coughlin] got us started hitting threes, and they had to extend out on her, and that opened up Imani [Tate] and Zakiya [Saunders].”
For the fourth time this season, four UAlbany players earned double digit scoring. Zakiya Saunders earned her fifth double-double of the season on 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
“We just tried to focus on our defense; our defense led to offense,” said Saunders. “Erin [Coughlin] started by knocking down some contested threes, and it pumped us up to get our press going as we tried to get more stops.”
Shereesha Richards led the team in scoring with 21 points, adding six rebounds. Imani Tate netted 18 points off the bench, including 16 in the second half, with four steals, five rebounds and three assists. Erin Coughlin started 4-for-4 from three-point range and tallied 14 points, four assists and three steals.
“With any team we play, we look to pressure the ball and pressure the sideline,” said Cassandra Edwards. “We also kept them out of the high post, a big part of their game. We buckled down on defense by doing the little things.”
No Hartford players reached double digits in scoring. Janelle Harrison concluded with eight points, eight rebounds and four assists while La'Trice Hall had eight points and three steals.
Going against the Hartford zone, UAlbany looked to ranged shots to pull off the defense. Saunders hit her first two mid-range shots, then twice went into the arc to kick out to Coughlin for a pair of three-pointers. Off another transition break, Coughlin pump faked on the three and drove baseline, handing off to Richards for the layup to give UAlbany a 12-4 lead in the opening five minutes.
UAlbany started to employ the press, leading to a couple of steals at half court. Another Coughlin kick out three from a Richards double team sent UAlbany up 17-5 with 2:30 left in the opening quarter.
Coughlin led the transition attack in the next couple of possessions, finding Saunders on the elbow and Richards in the paint. UAlbany put together a 7-2 streak towards the end of the period, eventually taking a 24-11 lead into the second quarter.
At 25-14 in the 2nd, Tate led the offense, including a couple of high arcs passes to Richards for layups. Including another three for Coughlin to begin 4-for-4, UAlbany sprinted to an 11-2 run, capped by Tate drawing a double team to free up Edwards for a layup, to lead 36-16 with 6:22 left in the 2nd.
The defenses ruled for the next couple of minutes as no team scored from the 5:34 mark to the 2:03 mark. UAlbany's defense did not allow a field goal in the final 5:34 of the half. Some late free throws by Bose Aiyalogbe put the Great Dnaes up 42-22 at halftime.
Saunders kicked off the action of the second half by stealing a perimeter pass and scoring coast-to-coast and then drove baseline next play to score another layup. Edwards added another by faking a pass underneath the basket and scoring herself for the 6-0 run in the quarter's opening 2:30.
Later, after a Saunders jumper, UAlbany had a de facto four-point play. As Coughlin hit a jumper, a foul away from the ball kept possession with UAlbany. Tate added a putback jumper on the same possession, making the score 54-24 UAlbany with 5:20 left in the 3rd.
UAlbany held Hartford without a field goal for over six minutes, building a 31-point lead off more short range jumpers. Saunders pushed into the lane and hit the jumper at the third quarter buzzer to put UAlbany ahead 62-31.
The run conituned into the fourth as Tate hit two baskets in succession to cap a 7-0 run into the fourth quarter. Hartford countered with its own 7-0 run led by Harrison, who hit two free throws and kicked out for a mid-range jumper and a three, to make it 67-38 UAlbany with 5:47 left.
Again the UAlbany defense held as the Great Danes did not allow a field goal for over five minutes. With the reserves coming in, Tate, Bailey Hixson and Tiana-Jo Carter put together an 11-0 run to seal the game. UAlbany took the victory 78-41.
UAlbany returns home to kick off the Big Purple Growl on Wednesday, February 3rd at 7 p.m., hosting UMBC at the SEFCU Arena.
