SCORE: UAlbany 60, Vermont 46
 
LOCATION: McDonough Sports Complex (HVCC) - Troy, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 7-8, 1-0 America East | Vermont 8-5, 0-1 America East
 
SHORT STORY: Off to a hot start, a quarter-opening scoring run re-lit the fire in the fourth quarter as the Great Danes took their first conference contest, 60-46, over the visiting Catamounts, Thursday.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "It feels really good to get the win, especially having our full team back for the first time this season. I am so proud of our team, we have faced a lot of adversity and it has only made us stronger. Vermont is a well-balanced team and I am so grateful we had the opportunity to show the community the resiliency our group truly has."
 
KEY STATS

• Graduate student Ellen Hahne led the Great Danes with 16 points.
• Junior Kayla Cooper added two team-highs with nine rebounds and four assists.
• Sophomore Freja Werth tallied the lone UAlbany block.
• Five Great Danes notched one steal - graduate student Lucia Decortes, senior Grace Heeps, senior Helene Haegerstrand, senior Taniya Hanner, and Cooper.
• Going 3-3, Werth led from the field. Redshirt-junior Morgan Haney and Haegerstrand followed with 50% accuracy (5-10). 
• In the first quarter alone, the Great Danes shot with 72.7% accuracy (8-11). 

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts started the scoring on the first possession but it wasn't long before the Great Danes took the lead, 6-5, with a jumper and two free throws.
• Tallying seven unanswered points in less than a minute, UAlbany grabbed a 13-7 advantage with 6:08 on the first-quarter clock.
• Scoring continued back and forth to close the quarter as the Great Danes started the second with a 22-13 lead.
• UAlbany opened the second quarter with a 9-2 scoring run to extend the lead to 16 points at 6:33.
• Vermont closed out the half with a slight 5-4 advantage in the final five minutes but the Great Danes continued to hold a double-digit lead, 35-20, when the first half clock read 0:00.
• Helene Haegerstrand opened the second half with a jumper but a hungry Vermont team outscored the Great Danes 17-7 in the third quarter to close the lead to 42-37 at the end of the quarter.
• UAlbany opened the final 10 minutes of action with an 8-0 scoring run to gain its double-digit lead back.
• After three points from the Catamounts, the Great Danes added five to extend their advantage to 15 with just under five minutes left to play.
• Scoring continued back and forth as the contest came to a close with a 60-46 UAlbany victory.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes are set to head on the road to face New Hampshire on Sunday (Jan. 1).
 
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