SCORE: UAlbany 47, Stonehill 46
 
LOCATION: Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gym - North Easton, Mass.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-6, 0-0 America East | Stonehill 3-8, 0-0 NEC
 
SHORT STORY: With 15 lead changes, the Great Danes and the Skyhawks played a neck-and-neck contest until the very last second when UAlbany came out with the one-point victory, Wednesday night.

COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "This was a tough, gritty team road win. Stonehill is a disciplined, well-coached team and we knew it was going to be a battle for 40 minutes. I'm so proud of how the players made winning plays down the stretch. Our team defense and rebounding was the difference tonight.
 
KEY STATS

• Senior Helene Haegerstrand led the team with 13 points.
• Junior Kayla Cooper hit 50% of her shots to earn nine points.
• Senior Grace Heeps totaled a team-high nine rebounds.
• Haegerstrand added two assists and two blocks. Sophomore Lilly Phillips tied Haegerstrand in assists and graduate student Lucia Decortes tied in blocks to lead the team.
• Three Great Danes tallied one steal - Decortes, Phillips, and redshirt-junior Morgan Haney.
• Returning from an injury, Haney and Cooper made their season debut against Stonehill.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first quarter saw both teams trading field goals. Each team drew a pair of good free throws that served as the only back-to-back baskets in the first 10 minutes of action.
• Lucia Decortes closed the first with a layup at 00:59 to give the Great Danes a 12-11 lead.
• The back-and-forth action continued as defense reigned in the second quarter. 
• Stonehill grabbed the largest scoring run with five unanswered points from two free throws and a three-pointer to take a 21-18 lead ahead of halftime.
• The Skyhawks were the first to tally two field goals in a row in the first 90 seconds of the second half.
• Coming back from a six-point deficit, UAlbany followed with two-straight field goals to close the lead to 26-24 at 6:34 in the third quarter.
• Stonehill continued with the advantage until a 5-0 scoring run changed the lead to UAlbany, 33-32, before a layup from Kayla Cooper closed the third quarter with a Great Dane lead, 35-34.
• Adding a second five-point scoring run, the Skyhawks took a 39-35 lead two minutes into the final quarter.
• Stonehill earned a five-point lead, the largest of the contest, with 4:21 on the fourth-quarter clock.
• Three-straight baskets from Lilly Phillips, Helene Haegerstrand, and Grace Heeps turned the advantage in UAlbany's favor, 46-44, with just over a minute left in regulation.
• Going for a shot to end the game in regulation, Morgan Haney drew a foul and earned two free throws with three seconds on the clock.
• Making one of her two attempts, the Great Danes took the victory, 47-46.

 
NEXT: After one day of rest, the Great Danes will play #3 Ohio State on Friday, December 16.
 
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