UAlbany women's basketball completes sweep of New Hampshire

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

University at Albany's Lilly Phillips warms up Saturday, January 8, 2022.

The UAlbany women’s basketball program heads into the final week of its regular season off a pair of wins.

With important home games against America East Conference leaders Maine and Stony Brook coming up, the Great Danes took care of business Saturday with a 55-46 road win against New Hampshire to keep pace in the league standings.

Helene Haegerstrand led UAlbany (12-4 league, 19-8 overall) with 18 points, while Morgan Haney scored 14 off the bench, and Kayla Cooper and Grace Heeps each added 10. Cooper also had nine rebounds. For New Hampshire (3-11, 6-19), Amanda Torres scored a team-high 15 points.

UAlbany led for more than 80% of the contest and never trailed after the first quarter. The Great Danes’ 16 turnovers were six more than New Hampshire committed, but UAlbany made up for that margin by out-rebounding the home team 34-24 and holding New Hampshire to 14 of 47 shooting from the field. The Great Danes made 17 of 41 shots, including 7 of 20 from 3-point territory.

UAlbany only led 11-10 after one quarter, but took a 27-17 lead into halftime. After the intermission, the Great Danes grew their lead to as many as 15 points and maintained a double-digit lead until a late surge from New Hampshire. After UAlbany moved ahead 47-32, New Hampshire put together a 13-5 run, but the Great Danes always maintained at least a three-possession advantage in the game’s final minutes.

Previously, UAlbany had defeated New Hampshire 50-39 this season.

UAlbany is in third place in the America East standings. The Great Danes are a half-game back of second-place Maine and two games back of first-place Stony Brook, but the Seawolves are not eligible for this year’s league playoffs.