SCORE: UAlbany 57, NJIT 53
 
LOCATION: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 13-6, 6-2 America East | NJIT 10-9, 5-3 America East
 
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes grabbed an early lead in the first half and battled the Highlanders' comeback to finish the contest with a close win, Saturday afternoon.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "NJIT is a talented team that does a great job of executing offensively. We defended and allowed our offense to come from our defense. I am so proud of the way we took care of the ball today and executed down the stretch. It was a great team win."
 
KEY STATS

• Sophomore Kayla Cooper led the team with 14 points, eight rebounds, and five steals.
• Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney tied Cooper with eight rebounds. Along with senior Lucia Decortes, Haney led the team with five defensive rebounds.
• Senior Grace Heeps helped with the most baskets tallying three assists.
• Both going 3-5, freshman Freja Werth and Decortes compiled a .600 shooting percentage to lead the team.
• The Great Danes totaled a season-low nine turnovers against NJIT.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Freshman Lilly Phillips scored the first points of the contest with 8:28 on the first-quarter clock.
• Throughout the next four minutes, the Great Danes went on a 9-4 scoring run to gain an 11-6 lead with less than five minutes left in the quarter.
• After closing the first quarter with a 14-6 advantage, UAlbany added to its lead in the second quarter, quickly gaining a 12-point lead, 18-6. 
• The Great Danes held on to their double-digit lead throughout the completion of the first half, entering halftime with a 31-17 advantage.
• NJIT worked on closing the lead during the third quarter, holding UAlbany to just one basket in the first seven minutes. 
• Despite being outscored, 20-6, in the third quarter, the Great Danes entered the final quarter with a 40-37 lead.
• The Highlanders worked to keep it a one-possession game but UAlbany gathered an eight-point lead with just over three minutes to play.
• The score was 56-51 before NJIT tallied a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 27 seconds left.
• A foul on the Highlanders, a successful free throw by senior Ellen Hahne, and a stop from the Great Dane defense secured the win, 57-53, and the sweep.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes will head on the road for two away games in three days. First, UAlbany will make a stop at Binghamton on January 31 before heading to UMBC on February 2.

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