University of Albany Women's Basketball Completes Non-Conference Slate With 64-55 Victory Over Brown - UAlbany Sports 2010

Providence, R.I. - Felicia Johnson scored 16 points to pace four Great Danes in double figures and lead UAlbany to a 64-55 win over Brown on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at the Pizzitola Sports Center. With the victory, the Great Danes surpassed last season's win total and will enter Sunday's America East Conference opener at Vermont with their best 13-game record as a Division I program.

UAlbany (7-6), which led by two points at halftime, scored the first 10 points of the second half to break the game open. Johnson and Ebone Henry each netted a field goal and a pair of free throws to give their team a double-digit lead for the first time, as Brown struggled to penetrate UAlbany's 1-3-1 zone trap.

Brown (3-10) rallied back by embarking on an 8-2 run to cut the Great Dane lead to four at 45-41 with eight minutes remaining. A free throw by Aileen Daniels for the Bears' first point of the half at 15:35 sparked the rally. UAlbany shook off the comeback bid by going back ahead by double figures when Charity Iromuanya sunk two free throws with 5:49 on the clock.

The Bears would not go away quietly and closed the gap to just four points at 59-55 with 36.5 seconds remaining when Natalie Bonds put back her own rebound. However, Johnson, Iromuanya and Julie Forster all made free throws down the stretch as the Great Danes held on for the nine-point win.

"We really picked up the intensity in the second half," said head coach Trina Patterson, whose team improved to 6-2 when leading or tied at halftime after going 5-11 last season. "Our goal is to be committed to excellence both on and off the court. This team has a lot of character in everything they do, and that has carried over to the court. We still have to work on our rebounding, but we did a better job of taking more high percentage shots."

Neither side led by more than four points in a tightly-contested first half which featured seven ties and five lead changes. Cassandra Callaway gave the Great Danes a 23-19 lead when she stole the ball in the backcourt and went in for an uncontested layup for two of her career-high six points.

However, the Bears got consecutive field goals from Sarah Delk and Hannah Passafuime to knot the score at 23 before the final media timeout at 3:47. Felicia Johnson's off-balance shot in the lane with nine seconds left broke the final tie of the period and gave the visitors a narrow 33-31 advantage at the break.

"We are a very confident team," said Johnson, who was one of four underclassmen in the starting lineup for a young UAlbany squad which only has one senior. "We have confidence in one another. Everybody works very hard, and we know that hard work can get a lot of things done. We are confident that if we work harder than anybody else, then we can be successful."

In addition to Johnson, who also contributed a team-high four assists, UAlbany was also paced by Henry, Keyana Williams and Iromuanya. Henry contributed 14 points and three steals, while Williams netted a career-best 10 points to go along with six rebounds and a block. Iromuanya scored 10 for the visitors.

Brown, which held a commanding 53-29 advantage on the boards, was led by Lindsay Nickel, Delk and Bonds. Nickel and Delk grabbed 16 and 12 points respectively, while Bonds had 15 rebounds and two blocks in addition to scoring six points.

"Our work ethic is great, and we play good defense," added Patterson, whose squad has ranked among the top three teams in the America East Conference in scoring defense and continues to lead the league in steals after picking up 13 more tonight. "Defense is going to win games for us, and this team is committed to it."

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information