SCORE: UAlbany 67, Vermont 54
 
LOCATION: SEFCU Arena - Albany, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 22-9, 13-5 America East | Vermont 20-11, 13-5 America East
 
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes are headed to the America East Championship after an early deficit lead to an explosive second-half offense over #3 Vermont, Tuesday night. 
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "I am so proud of the way our team battled tonight at both ends of the floor against a very tough UVM team. We set defensive goals for this game and were able to meet them with a team defensive focus. Offensively, we hit big shots when we needed them. I'm so happy for our players, they earned this victory."
 
KEY STATS

• UAlbany outshot Vermont, .446-.370. The defense held the Catamounts to a 26.3% accuracy from outside the arc while the Great Danes made 50.0% of their attempts from three-point range.
• Junior Helene Haegerstrand led the UAlbany offense with 18 points, shooting 66.7% from the field. Right behind her was senior Ellen Hahne with 17 points.
• Sophomore Kayla Cooper led the Great Danes with 12 rebounds (nine defensive, three offensive). Her 11 points led to her sixth double-double of the season.
• Cooper led UAlbany in assists tallying four, followed by a trio of Great Danes with three apiece - Hahne, freshman Freja Werth and redshirt-sophomore Morgan Haney.
• On defense, Haegerstrand led with three blocks.
• Four Great Danes earned at least one steal led by Haney and Hahne with a pair each while Cooper and junior Grace Heeps notched one. 
• The UAlbany bench proved to be a game-changer scoring 38 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior Lucia Decortes won the tip-off for the Great Danes to start the game.
• Vermont scored back-to-back baskets before Kayla Cooper sank a free-throw to put UAlbany on the board, 4-1.
• Senior Ellen Hahne made a basket from downtown to tie the score at four.
• The two teams traded baskets before junior Helene Haegerstrand sank a basket from three-point range to give the Great Danes their first lead of the game in the eighth minute.
• Hahne made her second shot from downtown to extend the UAlbany lead, 6-12.
• The Catamounts quickly answered, scoring back-to-back points to cut into the Great Dane advantage. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 12-11.
• Off an assist by Cooper, her third of the night, Haegerstrand made a layup to open the second quarter.
• Making a shot from downtown, Vermont regained the lead with 5:34 remaining in the half.
• Freshman Koi Sims made a layup to regain the lead for the Great Danes late in the second quarter.
• Both teams traded baskets before junior Fatima Lee sank a jumper to tie the score at 21 with less than three minutes in the half.
• At halftime, UAlbany led, 28-23, over Vermont.
• The Catamounts scored the first basket of the third quarter before the Great Danes capitalized on a Vermont turnover to make two consecutive baskets.
• The teams traded baskets as Vermont made an effort to cut into the UAlbany lead.
• At 4:44, Freja Werth sank a basket from downtown to extend the lead over the Catamounts, 42-34.
• With a layup late in the third quarter, Vermont cut the Great Dane lead to five.
• UAlbany quickly answered with a 5-0 run to end the third, 49-39.
• Haegerstrand scored the first points of the final quarter with a basket from three-point range.
• The Great Danes capitalized off another Vermont turnover as Werth sank a basket from downtown, assisted by Hahne.
• To follow a UAlbany foul at 6:23, Vermont went on a 14-4 scoring run with Morgan Haney making a layup and two free throws to break it up.
• With less than a minute remaining, Hahne made a free throw to put the Great Danes up by ten.
• In the final thirty seconds of the game, Vermont sent Haegerstrand and Cooper to the free-throw line as the Great Danes increased their lead.
• UAlbany inbounded with three-seconds remaining to capture the win, 67-54, over #3 Vermont.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes will visit Maine for the America East Championship on Friday with a 5 p.m. start.
 
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