SCORE: UAlbany 67, Merrimack 53
 
LOCATION: McDonough Sports Complex (HVCC) - Troy, N.Y.

RECORDS: UAlbany 1-0, 0-0 America East | Merrimack 0-2, 0-0 NEC
 
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes grabbed an early lead and continued to expand upon it, taking the first-game win, Friday night.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "I'm really proud of our team's effort tonight against a scrappy Merrimack squad. We executed well offensively and had great player and ball movement. Our defense and rebounding was consistent. It's a great feeling to start off the season with a win."
 
KEY STATS

• Graduate student Ellen Hahne led the team with 24 points from nine field goals, including two three-pointers, and four free throws.
• Sophomore Freja Werth followed with 17 points from seven field goals, including one three-pointer, and two free throws.
• On defense, junior Taniya Hanner (7) and senior Grace Heeps (6) led with their respective rebound totals. Hanner and sophomore Lilly Phillips led the team with three offensive rebounds each.
• Hahne and sophomore Abby Ray added four assists each.
• Werth and Heeps notched one block each while freshman Marie Sepp led with two steals.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lilly Phillips opened the game with a jumper in the first ten seconds of play.
• Merrimack answered with a jumper, and after UAlbany added a three-pointer, once again tied the score. Adding a second three-pointer, the Warriors took the lead.
• Starting in the later half of the first quarter, six straight points gave the Great Danes a lead they would not give up for the rest of the game.
• UAlbany ended the first quarter with a 17-10 advantage.
• In the second quarter, scoring continued back and forth until the Great Danes added nine unanswered points gaining a 14-point lead with 2:44 on the clock.
• The Warriors closed the gap with multiple free throws before halftime, making the score, 34-23.
• Much like the first and second quarters, the first three minutes of the third saw back-and-forth scoring.
• Starting with 6:46 on the clock, UAlbany scored nine points in two minutes and gathered four stops.
• The teams continued to trade points as the Great Danes headed into the final quarter with a 56-44 lead.
• In the quarter with the least amount of points scored UAlbany held the Warriors to just nine points.
• The Great Danes tallied three baskets in the first minute of fourth-quarter action
• UAlbany saw its largest lead of the contest with just over a minute left. At 1:15, the Great Danes held a 19-point advantage, 67-48.
• Merrimack added three final baskets but it was not enough as UAlbany won the game, 67-53.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes will compete at Siena for the Albany Cup on Sunday, November 13 at 1 pm.
 
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