By Collin Scriven | March 3, 2025
The University at Albany’s women's basketball team clinched their second regular season America East title in three years with their 68-60 win over the UMBC Retrievers on Thursday.
Members of the women’s basketball team posing following their conference-clinching win over UMBC.
Photo Credit: Bruce Dudek / UAlbany Athletics
"This was a really special win for our team and for our program,” head coach Colleen Mullen said on Thursday’s win. “Kayla [Cooper] and Jessica [Tomasetti] made some clutch plays at key points throughout the game and our defense came up with big stops down the stretch. I'm really proud of the team's resilience and grit."
UAlbany started out hot, going up 10-4 within the first four minutes of the game.
Following a media timeout, both teams traded points and the first quarter came to a close with the Great Danes on top 17-13.
The second quarter started slow, with neither team scoring for more than two minutes. UAlbany’s Delanie Hill broke the stalemate when she made a layup to push the score to 19-13.
The Great Danes kept the momentum going, scoring on their next two possessions to extend the lead to eight, the largest of the game.
UMBC battled back and scored six unanswered points to cut the lead to two at a score of 23-21. However they could not keep the momentum going, and UAlbany went on a 6-2 run to end the half with a score of 29-23.
The Retrievers opened the second half with a score, but it was UAlbany that ended up going on a run, outscoring UMBC 8-3 and making the score 37-28 early in the third quarter.
Both teams went back and forth as the third quarter drew to a close, but UMBC cut the lead, which was once at 12, down to seven and finished the quarter at a score of 50-43.
UMBC continued to cut the lead to three, but UAlbany’s Meghan Huerter made the team’s first three-pointer of the game to make it a two-possession game once again.
Despite the three, the Retrievers continued to score and tied the game with under five minutes to play.
The Great Danes ran away with the game in the final minutes of the game while outscoring their opponent 13-5 to walk away with a 68-60 win. With the victory, the team also clinched the title of America East Regular Season Champions.
UAlbany is set to face the No. 8-seeded University of New Hampshire in the first round of the America East Tournament on Thursday, March 6.