Ualbany women survive rally
Late clutch 3s rescue Danes after 14-point lead cut to one
All the good karma the University at Albany women’s basketball team built through the first half of its America East quarterfinal tournament game Sunday against New Hampshire begin dripping away, like a snowman on a 50-degree day.
What was once a 14-point Ualbany lead had melted down to one with 1:40 remaining before the Great Danes rediscovered the basket. Ellen Hahne and Helene Haegerstrand nailed back-to-back 3-point shots 25 seconds apart, and the Great Danes survived and advanced with a 4943 victory over UNH at SEFCU Arena.
“I never thought getting 49 points would be so difficult,” Ualbany coach Colleen Mullen said.
The victory moved the fourth-seeded Danes (7-10) into the tournament semifinals. They will face top-seeded Maine at 1 p.m. Sunday in Orono.
After spotting New Hampshire (5-18) the game’s first six points, Ualbany went on a 25-6 tear — holding the Wildcats scoreless for nearly 10 minutes at one
point — for a seemingly comfortable 25-12 halftime lead.
New Hampshire changed defenses into an effective zone, and Ualbany suddenly couldn’t adjust. The Danes missed 10 straight 3-point attempts before Hahne and Haegerstrand provided the points that allowed the Danes to exhale.
“I was open, and the shot clock was coming down,” said Hahne, a 6-foot-1 junior who had 11 points and nine rebounds. “It was a little chaotic at first, but when I got it, I was like, I’ve got to shoot it.”
Eight of Ualbany’s 20 turnovers came in the third quarter, in which UNH outscored the Danes 17-8. Ualbany was stuck on 36 points for nearly four minutes of the fourth quarter before Lucia Decortes (11 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots) made a layup to put the Danes on top 38-35.
The back-to-back threes finally sealed Ualbany’s trip to Maine next weekend.
“You could see how tense everybody had been,” Mullen said. “They looked pressed and tight.”
Then Haegerstrand found Decortes for the layup, “and you could see us starting to get a little confidence and changing the momentum and calming down a little bit,” Mullen said. “Good players make big plays.”
Haegerstrand led the Danes with
12 points. Hahne, Decortes and point guard Kyara Frames, who played all 40 minutes, each scored 11.
“Four players in double figures — I don’t think I’ve seen that all year,” Mullen said. “It was just a nice, balanced attack for us, keeping them off the offensive glass was a big key. We outrebounded them (36-27), and having 14 assists on 18 made field goals is showing that we’re moving the ball. We just grinded it out and found a way to
win.”
New Hampshire ended its season having lost to Ualbany three times.
“We struggled in that first half,” first-year UNH coach Kelsey Hogan said, “but the second half, our buyin, especially defensively, to end possessions get more heavy on those boards, we turned some things around and we made it at least a competitive game.”