SCORE: UAlbany 64, Siena 44
LOCATION: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 4-4, 0-0 America East | Siena 0-8, 0-0 MAAC
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes started out with a 6-0 scoring run before taking the game against Siena, Sunday afternoon.
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "I'm really excited for our team, and especially for our local players to bring the Albany Cup back to UAlbany. I credit Siena for a great game plan. They took us out of what we usually like to do, but I'm proud of the way we handled Siena's pressure. Defensively, we knew we needed to contain their drives, and I am pleased with how we controlled the boards throughout the game."
KEY STATS
- Junior Helene Haegerstrand led the team with 23 points, shooting 100% from the free-throw line and 50% from the field.
- Senior Lucia Decortes and freshman Koi Sims tallied a team-high of seven rebounds each. Decortes led with six defensive rebounds while Sims, Haegerstrand, and sophomore Kayla Cooper each totaled three offensive rebounds to lead.
- Junior Grace Heeps led from outside the arc, shooting 40% (2-5), while Haegerstrand followed shooting 37.5% (3-8).
- Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney compiled a team-high two steals.
- Haney and senior Ellen Hahne each led with two assists.
- Two Great Danes tallied a block - Decortes and Haegerstrand.
- As a team, UAlbany out-rebounded Siena, 44-29.
- The Great Danes went 10-12 on the free throw line during the final quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Great Danes opened the game with six straight points in one minute and 22 seconds.
- After the Saints scored four points, UAlbany earned a second scoring run to gain a 17-4 lead with over five minutes left in the first quarter.
- Siena closed the quarter with a 10-3 run as the Great Danes entered the first quarter break with a 20-14 lead.
- Both UAlbany and the Saints began the second quarter trading baskets, but the Great Danes went 6-0 to tally a 30-17 lead at the midway mark.
- Once again, Siena outscored UAlbany in the final five minutes of the quarter but the Great Danes entered halftime with a 34-25 advantage.
- UAlbany held the Saints to single-digit points in the third quarter.
- After gaining a 47-33 lead in the third, the Great Danes were scoreless through the first three and a half minutes of the final quarter.
- UAlbany made four straight free throws in the fourth minute of the fourth quarter but did not make its first basket from the field until the sixth minute - a three-pointer from Grace Heeps.
- Beginning with Heeps' three-pointer at 4:23, the Great Danes closed the game with a 13-1 scoring run.
NEXT: The Great Danes will continue their four-game home stretch, hosting Canisius on Wednesday, December 15.
For more information on the University at Albany women's basketball team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanywbb
Instagram - @ualbanywbb
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyWBB
