SCORE: UAlbany 61, UMBC 53
 
LOCATION: McDonough Sports Complex (HVCC) - Troy, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 9-8, 3-0 America East | UMBC 5-9, 2-1 America East
 
SHORT STORY: After an early run from the Retrievers, the Great Danes turned it around to gradually tie the score at the half. Earning the lead early in the second half, UAlbany continued to build upon and hold their advantage for the eight-point victory, Wednesday night.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "Tonight was a very important game for us and provided us with a huge challenge early in our conference schedule. UMBC is an athletic team that has a lot of talented scorers. I am proud of the way we defended tonight and the way our players finished the game in the fourth quarter."
 
KEY STATS

• Junior Kayla Cooper led the Great Danes on defense, on offense, and in transition with 25 points, nine rebounds, and four steals.
• Senior Helene Haegerstrand followed with 16 points while adding seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.
• Graduate student Ellen Hahne notched eight rebounds and three assists.
• Cooper, Hahne, Haegerstrand, and sophomore Lilly Phillips all tallied field goal percentages above 50% while Hahne and Haegerstrand went 50% from the three and Phillips went 100% from downtown.
• As a team, the Great Danes finished with a .467 field goal percentage after going .545 in the first half alone.
• UAlbany totaled 29 bench points with 25 from Cooper, three from Phillips, and one from sophomore Freja Werth.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Starting with six unanswered points, UMBC completed an 11-3 scoring run to force a timeout at 6:46.
• Answering, the Great Danes came within one point, 15-14, after an 11-2 scoring run. 
• The final three and a half minutes saw two field goals for each team but with three-pointers, the Retrievers gained a 21-17 advantage ahead of the second quarter.
• UMBC extended its lead to start the quarter before the teams began trading baskets. 
• UAlbany closed the first half with two layups from Kayla Cooper in 30 seconds to tie the score just before the halftime break.
• Adding four points to start the second half, the Great Danes went on a 14-2 scoring run to gain the largest lead of the contest - 12 points - with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter.
• UMBC closed the period with five points to close the gap, 45-38.
• The Retrievers changed up its style of play to open the fourth quarter and held UAlbany to just four points in eight minutes to continue to close the point gap. After a 9-4 scoring run from UMBC, the Great Danes were up by just one possession, 49-47, with 1:56 on the clock.
• Closing strong, UAlbany added two field goals and seven free throws to finish the game with the victory, 61-53.

 
NEXT: UAlbany will head on the road for an afternoon contest at UMass Lowell.

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