Women's Basketball Win 20 Games For the First Time in Division I History With 69-37 Win Over Binghamton - UAlbany Sports 2012

Albany, N.Y. - Megan Craig scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor to lead UAlbany to a 69-37 victory over Binghamton in America East Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at SEFCU Arena. With the win, the Great Danes improve their record to 20-9 overall, and 14-2 in league play. It is the first time in Division I history, and the first time since the 1991-92 season, that UAlbany has won 20 or more games.

After Binghamton's Orla O'Reilly hit a 3-pointer 43 seconds into play, neither team scored until the 13:49 mark of the first half when Julie Forster hit a jumper in the paint for the Great Danes. The teams went back-and-forth, tying the game at 9-9 on a trey by Binghamton's Andrea Holmes. After another long-range shot put the Bearcats up, 12-9, UAlbany kicked into high gear, and scored the game's next 18 points. Craig scored seven of those points for the Great Danes, while two free throws by Forster with 36 seconds on the clock gave UAlbany a 26-12 lead. O'Reilly ended the run with a jumper for Binghamton with 20 seconds left, but Lindsey Lowrie sank a bucket with just nine ticks on the clock to send the Great Danes to the locker room with a 28-14 lead.

UAlbany continued to roll coming out of the halftime break, and build up a 21-point lead, 42-21, on a 3-pointer by Lowrie at 14:41. O'Reilly responded with a trey of her own at the Binghamton end of the floor, but the Bearcat defense could not contain the Great Danes, as they extended their advantage to 25 on back-to-back treys off Binghamton turnovers by Ebone Henry and Cassandra Callaway. Viive Rebane made two free throws to try to spur the Bearcats into action, but another long-range shot by Callaway at 7:35 put the Great Danes up, 60-30. Binghamton was cable to cut the lead back to 27 on a jumper by Jasbriell Swain, but UAlbany continued to roll, as a free throw by Sarah Royals set the score at 67-33 with under two minutes to play. Cyndra Couch laid the ball in with under a minute to play, while two made free throws by Binghamton's Kyra Aloizos set the final score.

O'Reilly and Holmes led the Bearcats with eight points each, while Swain totaled seven points and six rebounds for Binghamton (12-16, AE 6-9).

Craig scored her 19 points in 19 minutes of action off the bench, leading three players in double-digit scoring totals. Henry netted 12 points and recorded seven rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Callaway totaled 10 points, three helpers and two steals. Forster controlled the game off the boards, pulling down a game-high 11 caroms, as UAlbany out-rebounded Binghamton, 43-26. The Great Danes shot 44.1 percent (26-59) from the floor, while holding Binghamton to 27.3 percent (12-44) shooting.

UAlbany (20-9, AE 14-2) will wait to see how the conference standings wrap up over the weekend, determining the Great Danes' seeding and first America East tournament opponent.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports