UAlbany women beat UNH to snap 4-game skid.
Playing for only the third time in the calendar year, the University at Albany women’s basketball team hopes it is approaching midseason form.
Ualbany snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday with a 59-47 victory over New Hampshire at SEFCU Arena. The teams play again at 2 p.m. Sunday, also at SEFCU.
“We really talked about getting our mojo back and getting our confidence back this weekend because we’re a good team, we just haven’t had a lot of practice,” said Great Danes coach Colleen Mullen, whose team has gone on pause three times this season because of COVID -19 concerns. “So we focused on getting better every day this week.”
Kyara Frames scored 12 points and Helene Haegerstrand added 10 for Ualbany (3-6 overall, 2-3 conference). Ivy Gogolin paced New Hampshire (4-10, 4-7) with 16 points.
Ualbany led for most of the game, except for a brief period early in the second quarter, and maintained a double-digit cushion in the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats shot a paltry 11 percent (1-for-9) from beyond the arc while the Danes made seven from distance, including three from Frames.
“My team has definitely been doing a good job of trying to get me going,” said Frames, who has made 10 of 20 field-goal attempts the past two games after shooting 27 percent in her first seven. “Most of my shots are coming up from kick-outs. My team is looking for me in the corner or penetrating to kick the ball to me.”
Frames hit back-to-back 3pointers midway through the first quarter to stake Ualbany to a 14-8 lead. New Hampshire rallied and took a 22-21 lead with five minutes left in the first half, but that was the first — and last — time the Wildcats would be ahead.
The Danes closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 30-24 lead at the break. Fatima Lee scored five points in the run. Frames had eight points in the first half while Gogolin paced the Wildcats with 12 points in the first 20 points.
“New Hampshire is a tough team to prepare for because they do so many things and they play so hard, and we knew we would have to handle their changing defenses and handle their pressure,” Mullen said. “I can’t say enough about our balanced attack and our confidence.”