SCORE: UAlbany 67, Rhode Island 57
 
LOCATION: Broadview Center - Albany, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 1-0, 0-0 America East | Rhode Island 1-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10
 
SHORT STORY: Graduate student Kayla Cooper led with 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Great Danes defeated Rhode Island to open the 2024 season, Friday night.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "I am so proud of the way our players battled tonight and gutted out this tough win. URI was relentless on the boards and their pressure and size challenged us the entire game. I'm very proud of our effort and the resiliency the team demonstrated for 40 minutes."
 
KEY STATS

• Kayla Cooper led on both offense and defense with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and two steals.
• Graduate student Jessica Tomasetti followed with 16 points, including her 100th career made three-pointer.
• Graduate student Lilly Phillips (10) made it three Great Danes with double-digit points.
• Redshirt-junior Gabriela Falcão totaled a team-high two blocks and graduate student Kaci Donovan notched a team-high two assists.
• A native of Greenwich, N.Y., a town about an hour away, Lilly Phillips hosted Sophie Phillips, her twin sister. The two Phillips guarded each other for most of the night in their first game playing against each other. Lilly Phillips held her sister, the Rams' best outside shooter, to 0-6 from three and 0-7 overall.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Rams won the jump before scoring on their first possession.
• After missing their first couple of attempts, Kaci Donovan and Jessica Tomasetti each downed a basket for a three-point lead just over three minutes into the action.
• Going back and forth throughout the remainder of the quarter, Tomasetti knocked down her 100th career made three-pointer with a lob from well outside the arc just before time ran out in the first.
• Despite a slow start in the second quarter, UAlbany outscored URI, 12-7, to earn a double-digit lead heading into overtime.
• Throughout the second half, both teams totaled 37 points on the way to the Great Danes' win.
• Rhode Island kicked up their offensive production in the second half.
• Battling back and forth, the Rams outscored UAlbany, 19-18, in the third quarter for a 48-39 Great Dane lead.
• In the final quarter, free throws proved to be on UAlbany's side. URI totaled two free throws, from two attempts, while the Great Danes tallied eight points from 10 free throw attempts.
• Adding five field goals, including a three-pointer from Meghan Huerter, UAlbany took back its double-digit lead to close the game with a 67-57 win.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes are set to head on the road for Dartmouth on Wednesday (Nov. 13).
 
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