SCORE: UAlbany 56, Maine 47
 
LOCATION: Memorial Gymnasium - Orono, Maine
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 23-9, 13-5 America East | Maine 20-11, 15-3 America East
 
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes notched an eight-point advantage in the first quarter to lead them through the entire game, Friday night.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "I am so proud of this team. They set a goal in August to win a championship, and tonight they did everything necessary to reach that goal. We knew it would take a tremendous effort and focused execution to defeat such a talented team in Maine. The hard work, maturity, and selflessness these young women have shown all season was certainly visible tonight. They earned this moment. I'm so incredibly grateful and happy for these amazing young women!"
 
KEY STATS

• Redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney broke a career-high and tallied 20 points to lead the Great Danes. She went 4-5 from the three-point arc.
• Sophomore Kayla Cooper led the defense with 12 rebounds and played most selflessly with five assists.
• Senior Ellen Hahne followed Haney on offense and Cooper on defense with 13 points and nine rebounds.
• Junior Helene Haegerstrand tallied three steals and the lone UAlbany block.
• As a team, the Great Danes went 8-14 (57.1%) from downtown.
• The bench once again proved themselves to complete the tournament with 23 points against Maine.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ellen Hahne tallied the first basket of the contest in the second minute, giving the Great Danes a lead they would not relinquish.
• Kayla Cooper extended the Great Dane lead to four before Maine got on the board.
• Two three-pointers in less than a minute (from Hahne and Helene Haegerstrand) gave UAlbany a 10-5 lead with 5:46 on the clock.
• The Great Danes went 4-6 from downtown to help gain a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• Maine opened the second with two layups in 90 seconds but UAlbany followed with two three-pointers, taking a 10-point lead with 6:07 on the clock.
• Scoring continued back and forth to finish out the first half with the Great Danes earning a 34-24 advantage to begin the second half of play.
• In a quarter where defense dominated, both UAlbany and Maine tallied single-digit point totals in the third. The Black Bears scored eight points to the Great Danes' four.
• The Maine offense was unable to grab a field goal until the fourth-quarter clock read 2:42. UAlbany's offense had tallied just two field goals in the time before Maine's.
• A second Black Bear basket just 10 seconds after the first closed the Great Dane lead to five with 150 seconds remaining.
• Hahne hit her second three-pointer of the night to extend the lead, 49-41, with just 83 seconds to play.
• Maine attempted to close the lead but UAlbany went 7-10 on the free throw line in the final minute to win the game and the America East title, 56-47.

 
NEXT: With the America East Championship under their belts, the Great Danes earned an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament. Join the team at Madison Theatre as they watch the 2022 Selection Show (ESPN, 8 pm) to find out who they will play next and where.

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