St. Rose sweeps Saint Michaels, UAlbany falls to Hartford

ALBANY, N.Y. >> The College of Saint Rose women’s basketball team outscored visiting Saint Michael’s 26-10in the third quarter of its 73-54home Northeast-10Conference win Wednesday. The Golden Knights (6-7⁄4-3 NE10), which led by as many as 22, had four players total double figures. Junior forward Karissa Birthwright (Rochester, N.Y./Odyssey Academy) led the quartet with a “double-double” of 21 points and 10rebounds. Junior guard Isa Vara de Rey (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands/ Ies Benito Perez Armas/Idaho State) added 16points on 6-of10shooting. Junior forward Leah Dollard (Albany, N.Y./Albany) scored in double figures for the fifth-straight game, registering 14points on 6-of-11shooting. She also snared nine rebounds in her first start of the season. Sophomore guard Takora McIntyre (Boston, Mass./Fenway/ Temple) set a career-best with 11points. She distributed seven assists in the victory.

“I’m really proud of the team’s play tonight,” said Head Coach Karen Haag. “We got into some foul trouble at the end of the first half, but managed to weather the storm. We had some great individual efforts tonight and I’m happy with our defense in a solid team win.”

Freshman forward Nina Fedullo (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) recorded career-highs of nine points, on 4-of-8shooting, and 12rebounds.

The Golden Knights opened the second quarter on a 12-3run to lead 31-17with 5:12remaining in the half. Saint Michael’s closed the period on a 13-0run to trail 31-30at the break. Vara de Rey totaled 10of her 16points in the first half.

Saint Rose opened the third period on a 22-6run to take control. Junior forward Samantha Delaney topped the Purple Knights (5-8⁄2-6NE10) in scoring with 13points.

Looking ahead, both teams have NE10games on Saturday at 1:30pm. The Golden Knights visit #7/#10Bentley, while Saint Michael’s hosts American International.

HARTFORD 70, UALBANY 55>> The University at Albany women’s basketball team lost their first game since Nov. 30, falling at Hartford 70-55in the America East opener. UAlbany had won their last seven in a row, and their last 13against the Hawks.

Hartford came out firing immediately in the first half, opening up a 7-0lead in the first minute and a half. The Hawks’ press defense forced UAlbany to commit nine turnovers in the first quarter alone, leading to 14Hartford points. The second quarter played out in the same manner, with Hartford taking a 24-point lead into the break. UAlbany mounted its most promising comeback early in the third quarter, behind senior Tiana-Jo Carter’s 10-points in the period. With 6:30left in the third, UAlbany had erased onethird of its halftime deficit. The Danes opened the second half on a 12-2run, forcing seven turnovers in the first four minutes. UAlbany would come no closer than 10points, however, as the Hawks were able to extend their lead to 17heading into the fourth quarter.

UAlbany came within 13points of Hartford at various points in the fourth quarter but were unable to complete the comeback. The Great Danes ultimately fell by a final score of 70-55. As a team, UAlbany outscored Hartford 34-26in points in the paint and 25-7in bench points, but lagged behind the Hawks 32-18in points off of turnovers.

Next: UAlbany returns to SEFCU Arena on Saturday, January 6 to host preseason conference favorite New Hampshire. The Great Danes split both regular season meetings with the Wildcats last year. ST. ROSE 69, ST> MICHAELS 43>> The College of Saint Rose outscored Saint Michael’s 68-43throughout the final 25 minutes to chalk up a 96-83 Northeast-10Conference victory Wednesday inside the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

The Golden Knights outscored their guests 40-24in the paint, got 31points from their bench, and shot a season-high 61.1 percent (33-for-54) from the floor to improve to 5-1at home this season.

“I thought we really responded well defensively in the second half. Our defense turned around our offense and we were able to make the most of it by scoring 56points throughout the second period,” said assistant coach Mike Perno.

Senior forward Julian Lipinski tossed in a career-high 25points, behind 9-for-12shooting, in only 29minutes, Fellow senior forward Jack Jones tied his season best of 15points while canning all six of his field goal attempts. Additionally, senior guard MicalRyan Boyd knocked down four 3-pointers en route to 18points while junior guard Shane Herrity handed out five assists. Junior guard Levi Holmes III tossed in 31points and senior guard Colin Richey added 18 for the Purple Knights (4-9⁄1-7 NE10) who had their three-game win streak snapped.

Saint Michael’s got out to a quick 10-2lead and held a 10 point, 42-32, advantage with 3:15to go until the break after Richey drained a trey. However, Herrity and Boyd knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Golden Knights (10-4⁄5-1 NE10) to within four, 44-40, at intermission.

Lipinski then converted a traditional three-point play with 17:26 to go that put Saint Rose ahead to stay with a 49-48advantage. The Golden Knights subsequently strung together a 13-4 run at the 11:38mark that turned a six point, 63-57, cushion into a 15point, 76-61, advantage with 8:40remaining. Jones sandwiched the spurt with a 3-pointer and a put-back basket. Saint Rose eventually increased its advantage to as much as 20 points in the final three minutes. Looking ahead, both squads have 3:30pm games this Saturday. The Golden Knights travel to Waltham, Mass. to take on Bentley, while Saint Michael’s hosts American International.

HARTFORD 72, UALBANY 64 >> The UAlbany men’s basketball team rallied from down 20for a tie game with two minutes left in the America East home opener, but fell to Hartford 72-64on Wednesday night.

Action was high-flying in the first couple of minutes as both sides traded shots back and forth. Including a couple of scores from Hassen Attia for Hartford and a layup and one from Joe Cremo, the two teams were tied at 9-9at the first media timeout.

After Hartford went back up with a three, three different UAlbany players contributed to a 7-0run, capped by a long jumper on a fast break by David Nichols, to take a 16-12advantage seven minutes in.

Hartford used the perimeter and running into the paint to go on a 14-0run, started by threes from John Carroll and J.R. Lynch, to take a 26-16lead with 8:26left in the 1st.

UAlbany started to fire away from three, chipping away with long range makes by Nichols and Cremo. With 6:37to play in the 1st, Nichols hit another three to pull UAlbany within five, down 29-24.

Hartford rebuilt the lead to 12 after Travis Weatherington hit a corner three with 1:50left in the 1st. UAlbany got to within single digits in the final minute, but a John Carroll jumper gave Hartford a 41-31advantage at the break.

Hartford’s strong shooting continued into the second half, beginning the period on an 11-4 run, fueled five points from Weatherington, to lead 52-35by the half’s first media. UAlbany’s defense held Hartford without points for over two-anda-half minutes, adding a Greig Stire tip-in to start chipping away. The Hawks continued to score long range, pushing the lead to 20with 11:44left at 5939Hartford.