University of Albany Women's Basketball Holds off Maine, 62-57; Henry and Johnson Break Single-Season Records - UAlbany Sports 2010

Orono, Maine - Keyana Williams scored nine of her career-high 15 points down the stretch in leading UAlbany to a 62-57 victory over Maine on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Alfond Arena. Ebone Henry broke the single-season school record for points by a freshman, while Felicia Johnson set the single-season program standard for assists by a sophomore.

UAlbany (11-18, AE 4-12), which has won four of its past last seven conference games after dropping its first nine, built up an eight-point lead at 29-21 to start the second half. Johnson broke the sophomore assists record when she found Charity Iromuanya for a 3-pointer in the right corner to spark the early run. Krista Bratishko, one of three Black Bear seniors honored prior to the game, made three consecutive baskets to keep her team in it, but the Great Danes never relinquished their lead.

A long two from the left corner by Henry to break the freshman single-season scoring record gave the visiting team its third double-digit lead of the half at 41-31 by the midway point of the stanza. Maine came within four points thanks to free throws by Baker, but Williams took over by netting nine consecutive points to put the Great Danes comfortably ahead by a 53-43 score with 3:03 left.

"At first I was just happy to see that I was helping my team and contributing," said Williams, who was named the team's player of the game after breaking her previous career high of 12 points set in last week's overtime win over New Hampshire. "My teammates were cheering for me, and it really pumped me up and got me excited (as I continued to knock down shots). I only started playing in seventh grade, and I feel like my game is starting to peak now at the end of the season when it counts the most."

Maine (8-20, AE 4-12) gave the visitors a scare at the end by closing the deficit to three on a three-pointer by Tanna Ross with 40.6 seconds remaining. After Melia Basavand and Iromuanya netted shots from the line, Brittany Williams made a layup to make it a 60-57 score. However, Iromuanya hit two clutch free throws in the waning seconds to hold off the rally.

"We have been playing really well," said head coach Trina Patterson, whose team will be seeded seven for next week's America East Tournament if Boston University beats New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon. "We have won two big games on the road (this month), and we are winning games when we have to. I thought we made some bad decisions down the stretch and played too casually, but we made our free throws when we had to."

The first 10 minutes of the game featured four ties and three lead changes with neither team leading by more than two points. Trailing 9-7 after Samantha Wheeler followed her own miss at the free throw line, the Great Danes scored the next seven points to take a 14-9 lead at the 8:55 mark. Henry made a layup and a trifecta from the right corner to cap the run which was made with two sophomores and three freshmen on the floor.

Maine came as close as two points on two occasions, but the visitors hung on to a 24-19 lead at the recess despite shooting just 27.6 percent from the field in the stanza. Henry had 10 points to lead all scorers, while Forster had nine boards through the first 20 minutes of action.

"Lately, our freshmen have been taking giant steps," added Patterson, whose squad is the only team in the league that starts three true freshmen. "They were taking baby steps in January, and lately they are taking these long strides. Of the three that start, at least two are going to give us something good every night. Tonight, it was Keyana Williams and Ebone Henry."

Iromuanya led three Great Danes in double figures with 16 points, and she also contributed a team-high five assists. Williams and Henry finished with 15 points each, while Julie Forster grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Bratishko and Wheeler each posted a double double for Maine, which lost for the seventh time in the last eight outings. Bratishko had 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Wheeler netted 11 and had 11 boards.


Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information