NORTH EASTON, Mass. — Morgan Haney’s season debut for the UAlbany women’s basketball team came just in the nick of time.
Haney, a redshirt junior guard and last season’s America East Sixth Player of the Year, was one of two UAlbany players to see their first action of the season Tuesday night after missing the Great Danes’ first 11 games due to injury.
The other returning player, junior guard Kayla Cooper, had a slightly bigger impact on the box score with nine points, but it was Haney who scored the game’s most important point, sinking the go-ahead free throw with 1.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter that gave UAlbany a 47-46 road win.
With the game tied 46-46 in the closing seconds, UAlbany’s Helene Haegerstrand had her go-ahead 3-point attempt blocked by Stonehill’s Sophie Glidden, but Haney was fouled by Cameron Ward with 1.5 seconds to go.
Haney made the first free throw to give UAlbany (6-6 overall) the lead, and while she missed the second and Stonehill (3-8 overall) got the rebound and a timeout, Stonehill was unable to get a last-ditch shot attempt off.
Haney finished with six points, and Cooper added six rebounds to go along with her nine points. Haegerstrand’s 13 points led the way for the Great Danes, and Lucia Decortes added eight points and seven rebounds.
In addition to Cooper and Haney, sophomore guard Freja Werth returned after missing two games due to injury, but UAlbany still wasn’t at full strength as the team’s leading scorer, Ellen Hahne, missed the game due to illness.
The two teams were locked in a defensive struggle throughout the night, with Stonehill taking a 21-18 halftime lead and going up by as many as six in the third quarter before UAlbany nudged ahead 35-34 after 30 minutes.
Stonehill pushed back ahead and led 44-39 in the fourth before UAlbany countered with a 7-0 run, capped off by Grace Heeps’ go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:10 left that made it 46-44. Stonehill’s Emily Bramanti, who scored a game-high 15 points, countered with a game-tying layup with 41 seconds left.
Tuesday’s win got UAlbany back to .500 on the season heading into the team’s toughest test of the season to date, Friday’s trip to Columbus Ohio to take on No. 3 Ohio State at 6 p.m.
Categories: -Sports-, College Sports, Sports, UAlbany
