University of Albany Women's Basketball Upends University of Rhode Island In Non Conference Action - UAlbany Sports

UAlbany Womens Basketball Upends University of Rhode Island In Non Conference Action. Britney McGee scores 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals to lead the Great Danes. More to come...

Kingston, R.I. – Junior co-captain Britney McGee recorded 17 points, five rebounds and four assists in leading the University at Albany to a 69-59 victory over the University of Rhode Island in non-conference women’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon. UAlbany broke a 53-53 tie by ending the game on a 16-6 run to record the program’s first victory over an opponent from the Atlantic 10 Conference since joining the Division I ranks in 1999.

Leading 61-55 with under a minute to play in regulation, UAlbany (2-11) ran down the shot clock and put the ball in the hands of Charity Iromuanya. The junior missed an 18-foot jumper with 54 seconds remaining, but she was able to steal the ball from Lindsay Harris after the Ram grabbed the defensive rebound.

Janea Aiken, who was being pressured at midcourt by multiple Ram defenders on the extra possession, found a wide open Tiffanie Johnson down low for two of her 13 points, putting UAlbany ahead by eight with 41 seconds on the clock. After Harris made two free throws, Aiken converted two shots from the charity stripe and hit a layup to seal the final outcome.

UAlbany scored on its first three possessions to jump out to a 6-2 advantage in the opening minutes of the contest. McGee had four points during the stretch. Aiken, who finished with 16 points, made a pair of trifectas to put the Great Danes ahead by a score of 12-6.

Led by two three pointers by Megan Shoniker, who finished with a game-high 20 points, URI (6-8) responded with a 10-0 run to go ahead by a 16-12 score with 10:38 left in the stanza. However, the Great Danes rattled off 12 straight points to take a 30-22 advantage in the final minute. Amira Ford found a wide open Ashley Lindsay on the right block for a layup to put UAlbany on top for the first time in over eight minutes, and a three-point field goal by McGee capped the run. Shoniker’s running layup in the last seconds closed out the scoring, and the teams headed to the locker rooms with the Great Danes holding a six-point advantage.

Trailing 30-24 at recess after allowing the Great Danes to shoot 48.1 percent from the field and 60 percent from downtown, URI rallied to take a 42-39 lead with 13:14 left to play in regulation. However, Aiken canned a 12-foot jumper and converted two free throws to put UAlbany back on top by one with 11:51 on the clock.

Two straight field goals by Tanja Licina tied the game up at 53-53, but a deep three pointer by McGee sparked a 10-1 run for the Great Danes. After dropping three straight games when leading at halftime, UAlbany did not surrender its lead late in this contest and held on the rest of the way for the 10-point win.

“After many tries which resulted in close and disheartening losses, this one felt really good to start the new year,” said UAlbany head coach Trina Patterson. “We held our composure, and I think this is going to be our springboard heading into conference play.”

The Great Danes, who will open America East Conference play on Jan. 10 at Binghamton, held a commanding 19-0 advantage in bench points and shot a season-high 54 percent (27-50) from the field. UAlbany also converted 40 percent of its three-point field goals and shot 78.6 percent from the charity stripe, while the Rams shot 42.4 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from behind the arc and 75.0 from the free throw line.

“This was a big relief,” said McGee. “We got a big monkey off our back. The bench was a big part of this win. We should really be geared up for conference play (next week).”