SCORE: UAlbany 61, Sacred Heart 49
 
LOCATION: Broadview Center - Albany, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 3-0, 0-0 America East | Sacred Heart 1-3, 0-0 MAAC
 
SHORT STORY: Graduate student Kayla Cooper and senior Laycee Drake matched career-highs as the Great Danes beat Sacred Heart, Saturday afternoon.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "We knew tonight was going to be a defensive battle. Sacred Heart made a run in the third quarter but the team responded. Kayla [Cooper] and Laycee [Drake] both had tremendous individual performances. We will learn and grow from this game."
 
KEY STATS

• Leading scorers Kayla Cooper and Laycee Drake each matched their career-high in points.
• A graduate student, Cooper notched 26 points, three steals, and eight rebounds to lead the team.
• Senior Laycee Drake followed with 16 points, 14 of which were consecutive, and seven rebounds. 
• Graduate student Jessica Tomasetti and junior Gabriela Falcão totaled three assists for a team-high.
• Three Great Danes shot at least 60% from the field. With nine made field goals, Cooper earned a .692 field goal percentage on 13 attempts. Graduate student Lilly Phillips (66.7%) and Drake (60%) followed.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• UAlbany started the scoring on their first possession when Kayla Cooper pounded her way through a defender and forced a foul for two made free throws.
• Sacred Heart answered back with a layup to tie it up at two.
• Both teams traded points until Laycee Drake scored five unanswered to end the first quarter, 17-12, Great Danes.
• The second quarter started as a defensive stalemate with no baskets for more than four minutes before Drake nailed a three-pointer with 5:37 left in the quarter. 
• Drake continued what proved to be a 14-point scoring run for herself to gain a 26-12 lead at 3:21.
• Each team added a field goal before ending the second and the Great Danes went into halftime with a 28-15 advantage after allowing only three points from the Pioneers.
• SHU went on a 15-4 run to start the third and was able to cut the UAlbany lead to two points, 32-30, with 4:32 remaining in the quarter.
• The Great Danes followed up with 12 unanswered in three minutes to end the quarter, 44-30.
• The fourth quarter did away with the large scoring runs of the third and back-and-forth action ensured.
• The Pioneers made one more field goal than the Great Danes but were unable to overcome the 14-point lead and UAlbany won, 61-49.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes are set to head on the road to Syracuse for a 7 pm tip on Wednesday (Nov. 20).
 
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