UAlbany Caps Off Unbeaten Conference Record on Senior Night
Photo: UAlbany seniors (holding pictures above) combined for 27 points in the victory on senior night.
ALBANY, N.Y. – For
the first time in program history, the University at Albany women's basketball
team completed a perfect America East record. UAlbany closed out regular season conference play by defeating Stony Brook at SEFCU Arena on Saturday, March 2, 60-49.
The win, on senior night, extended the Great Danes to 16-0 in America East play.
Senior guard Ebone Henry led UAlbany with 15 points and six
assists. Behind her, senior forward Julie Forster added eight points and led
the team with eight boards. As a unit, the Great Dane seniors (Henry, Forster,
Keyana Williams and Lindsey Lowrie) combined for 27 of the team's 60 points. UAlbany (25-3, 16-0 AE) became the seventh
team in America East women's basketball history to not lose a game in
conference.
“We are where we are because of the four seniors.
Period,” said head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “If I didn't have four
seniors that wanted to win this as much as I do, then we wouldn't be here.”
The Great Danes never trailed after the 16:22 mark of the
first half. Following an early 6-4 Stony Brook
lead, UAlbany went on a 20-3 run that the Seawolves could never recover from. Sophomore Megan Craig accounted for eight of those points. The 6'8 center utilized her height
mismatch under the hoop with three layups over the span.
UAlbany seniors accounted for the final 12 points of the
half, as they extended their lead to 35-23 after 20 minutes. Henry
and Forster each scored eight first half points.
Stony Brook (14-15, 6-10 AE) came out in the second half with fire – looking to
pull the upset on the undefeated Great Danes. They scored the first
eight points to bring the deficit back to four, 35-31, with 17:41 remaining. The Seawolves were led by guard Chikilra Goodman's 19 points.
In fitting fashion, Henry, UAlbany women's basketball all-time
leading scorer, put a stop to that momentum. She completed a three-point play
to energize the Great Danes and put them back ahead comfortably, 40-31. She drew another foul and tacked on two more, scoring four straight points for
UAlbany. They took the lead back to 11 with just under 13 minutes remaining.
The Great Danes went on to hold Stony Brook scoreless for
nearly three minutes as the final buzzer was in sights. They took a commanding
56-35 lead, a 15-2 run, with 6:54 remaining. Henry knocked down UAlbany's
final two regular season points as they rolled to the victory.
UAlbany will now prepare for the 2013 America East Conference
Tournament, hosted at SEFCU Arena. They
will be the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. The Great Danes
are scheduled to play No. 8 seeded Maine on Friday, March 8 in a quarterfinal match-up.
Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. on ESPN 3. Check out the entire women's bracket here.
2012-13 America East Regular Season Champs
