Freshman Shereesha Richards Leads UAlbany to 75-36 Win Over La Salle
PHILADELPHIA, PA. - Freshman Shereesha Richards scored a
career-high 17 points to lead UAlbany to a 75-36 win over La Salle in
non-conference women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at Tom Gola
Arena. The Great Danes improve to 6-2 on the season, while the Explorers fall
to 1-8.
UAlbany scored the first four points of the game on a basket
by Ebone Henry and two free throws from Sarah Royals. La Salle responded with a
3-pointer by Ebonee Jones to cut the lead to one at the first media timeout of
the game at 15:38. The Great Danes continued to push their run before La Salle
finally ended the rally at 16-3. Jones recorded a layup for the Explorers, but
UAlbany continued to push, responding with a 3-pointer by Henry to push the
lead to 21-8 with six minutes to play in the first half.
The Great Danes continued to roll, outscoring La Salle, 6-2,
over the final six minutes of the game. Richards
rolled in a layup, while Julie Forster converted an and-one opportunity to push
the advantage to 26-12. Jordan Mosley hit a jumper from the top of the key to
end a four-minute scoring drought for the Explorers, but Margarita Rosario
ended the half with a lay-in for the Great Danes to set the halftime score at
26-14 in UAlbany's favor.
UAlbany started the second half much like the first,
embarking on an 8-0 run, while also recording four steals in the first five
minutes of play. The Great Danes continued to use a pressure defense, and hot
shooting to continue to build their lead, as Megan Craig converted a
conventional three-point play at 11:23 to extend the UAlbany lead to 47-21.
Richards then scored nine of the next 11 points for the Great Danes, before Jones
ended the rally for La Salle with a three-point play of her own.
Richards added six more points in the final 3:43, while
Tammy Phillip added four points on two free throws and a jumper before the
final buzzer.
"It was a great team effort," said UAlbany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who has now led the Great Danes to four straight wins. "Ebone was a great leader out there and got everyone involved. Our post play dominated the game, and it's usually our guard play. It was great to see our two young post players get a lot of time. They played really well offensively and defensively."
Jones finished with a team-high 13 points for La Salle. The
Explorers shot just 21.3 percent (13-61) from the floor, and turned the ball
over 22 times.
Henry led all scorers with 18 total points to go along with
two steals and five assists. Craig added another 17 points, going 7-of-9 from
the floor to help the Great Danes shoot 58.8-percent (30-51) from the field in
the game. Forster grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Rosario handed out
a career-high eight assists in the game.
UAlbany will return to action on Saturday, visiting Buffalo
for a 2 p.m. contest.
