SCORE: UAlbany 69, UMBC 55
 
LOCATION: Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena - Baltimore, Md.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 19-3, 8-1 America East | UMBC 8-13, 4-5 America East
 
SHORT STORY: In a tale of two halves, the Great Danes' explosive offense in the third quarter proved to be the game-changer in a double-digit point victory over UMBC, Saturday afternoon.
 
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: "This was a great bounceback win for our team against an athletic, tough UMBC team. Kayla Cooper was terrific on both ends of the floor and I was very proud of how the team handled UMBC's runs. Meghan Huerter hit some timely three's to push the lead in the second half."

KEY STATS

• Three Great Danes tallied double-digit points - senior Kayla Cooper (18), junior Meghan Huerter (15), and junior Lilly Phillips (12).
• Cooper made it a double-double with a team-high 14 rebounds.
• Freshman Deja Evans followed with seven rebounds while totaling team-highs with five assists and three blocks.
• Huerter tied Evans with five assists.
• Graduate students Sarah Karpell and Helene Haegerstrand added three assists each. Haegerstrand also notched a team-high two steals.
• Five out of eight Great Danes who attempted at least one field goal shot over 50% - Karpell (.750), Haegerstrand (.500), Cooper (.571), Phillips (.625), and Huerter (.556).
• As a team, the Great Danes totaled 20 assists in the total team effort.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Throughout the first half, both teams hit hard on defense.
• Trading baskets, UMBC gained a three-point lead, 7-4, after five minutes of action.
• The Great Danes finished the quarter with a 10-0 scoring run to take a 14-7 advantage heading into the second quarter.
• UAlbany advanced their lead to 20-7 and finished what proved to be a 16-0 scoring run in the first two minutes of the quarter.
• The Retrievers owned the advantage throughout the rest of the first half. Outscoring the Great Danes, 10-2, in eight minutes of play, UMBC closed the point gap to five at halftime.
• UMBC brought their second-quarter play style into the third quarter to continue to close the gap after three minutes of the second half.
• UAlbany gradually advanced their lead throughout the following four minutes of action until a three-pointer from Meghan Huerter made it a 12-point lead.
• The Great Danes finished out the third quarter with a 6-4 advantage to take a 50-36 lead into the final quarter.
• Going 5-8 from three in the third quarter alone, UAlbany ended up totaling 28 points with the addition of four two-pointers and five free throws.
• The fourth ended up being dead even, 19-19, in scoring.
• The teams traded baskets throughout with UAlbany getting their largest lead, 69-53, with just over a minute remaining in the contest.
• Continuing her hot hand from the third quarter, Huerter hit three consecutive three-pointers in 97 seconds.
• As a team, the Great Danes shot 61.5% in the final quarter to secure a 69-55 win over the Retrievers.

 
NEXT: UAlbany will return home to host their annual Commitment to Education game on Thursday (Feb. 8) against Binghamton.
 
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 & Threads - @ualbanywbb
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyWBB