Women's Basketball Drops Non-Conference Contest to Canisius

Buffalo, N.Y. - Brittané Russell scored a team-high 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists to lead Canisius past UAlbany, 52-41, in a non-conference women's basketball game at the Koessler Athletic Center on Wednesday evening. Sparked by its bench, the Golden Griffins used a 15-2 run in the middle of the game and held off a furious rally by the Great Danes late in the contest to earn their fourth straight victory.

The opening six minutes was a seesaw battle, featuring four lead changes and a tie. After Felicia Johnson hit one of her three field goals in the first half to give UAlbany a 6-5 lead, a running jumper by Russell sparked an 8-0 run which gave the Golden Griffins some control and a 13-6 advantage at the midway point of the stanza.

UAlbany (3-3) hung around, as a jumper by Keyana Williams made it 20-13 with 3:41 to play. However, Canisius was able to score the half's final seven points to take a commanding 27-13 lead at the recess. Russell canned a trifecta from the left wing, and a pair of steals by Tasia Lee resulted in two more field goals for the hosts during the run.

Canisius (4-2), which advanced to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) last season, got a three-point field goal from Micayla Drysdale on its first possession of the second half. Johnson made a short jumper to end the hot Golden Griffins' hot streak, but the lead ballooned to 20 when Melissa Gardner drove in for a fastbreak layup to put hosts up 35-15 with 17:38 on the clock.

"We were tentative at the very beginning of the game, and they went on a 15-2 run because we played out of character and commited careless turnovers," explained head coach Trina Patterson.

The Golden Griffins, which extended their streak of making a trey to an NCAA-record 460 consecutive games early in the first half, continued firing from long range to pad its lead which grew to as many as 24 on a three-point field goal by Lee. Drysdale and Brianna Lucas each made two trifectas from downtown in the opening minutes to spark the run.

Trailing 48-26, UAlbany rallied by scoring nine consecutive points, forcing the Golden Griffins to call a timeout with 4:04 to play. Iromuanya made two field goals, and Forster converted a conventional three-point play during the streak. Following the final media timeout, Kim Clements drained a 12-footer to make it an 11-point game at the 2:42 mark. Delaney Cohan's layup with 1:18 remaining trimmed the deficit to single digits for the first time of the stanza at 50-41, but that was the closest the visitors would come before time ran out.

"We showed a lot of heart at the end and made it a game," added Patterson. "Our goal was to first cut [the lead] down from 20 to 10, and we did that. However, we didn't have enough time to finish it off. We have to regroup and get ready for Siena [on Saturday]."

Johnson and Forster paced UAlbany with 10 points apiece. Forster also grabbed six rebounds, while Johnson added three assists. Williams contributed eight points and five rebounds.

In addition to Russell, Canisius was led by the play of its bench which accounted for 30 of the team's 52 points. Lucas and Ashley Durham had eight points apiece, while Lee added seven points and had four steals. Drysdale finished with six points, a game-high five assists and four picks while committing just one turnover.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information