By Carter Schum | December 9, 2024
On Nov. 25, the University at Albany Women’s Basketball team defeated the Cornell Big Red 54-47 to improve to 5-0 on the season
Kayla Cooper (#20), placing a layup into the basket. Cooper had 24 points in UAlbany’s tight battle against Cornell Saturday night.
Photo Credit: Liam Martin / The ASP
“We found a way and that’s what basketball is all about,” UAlbany head coach Colleen Mullen said of her team's victory Saturday night.
The early portion of the first quarter swung in favor of Cornell as the Big Red connected on four of their first seven shot attempts and took advantage of a pair of free throws to jump out to an early 10-7 lead.
The final part of the first quarter saw just one combined basket as Kaci Donovan used the backboard to score her seventh point of the game to cut the Cornell lead to 10-9 at the end of the first quarter of action.
The second quarter saw a shift in momentum in favor of UAlbany as the Great Danes obtained their first lead of the game. Donovan added a three-pointer to push her first half-leading tally to 10, while Kayla Cooper and Jessica Tomasetti also netted buckets for the Great Danes to give UAlbany a 20-16 lead at the half.
Despite being ahead on the scoreboard, the Great Danes struggled offensively shooting just 26% (4-15), but were a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
The Big Red also struggled from the field in the second quarter, scoring just six points and going 1-11 from the field. Junior Emily Pape led Cornell with seven points in the first half and three other players joined her on the scoring sheet for the Big Red.
Cornell jumped out of the blocks in the third quarter, making five of their first six shots from the field including one from beyond the arc to get back in front 27-25 mid way through.
The second half of the third quarter saw Cooper shine, as she tallied seven points to bring her total tally to 15, second to Donovan with 13, who added three to her tally, raising it to 13 as the Great Danes led 34-31 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
“I think once we locked in on the defensive end, it made everything easier on offense,” Cooper said of her 20 point second half performance.
The fourth quarter saw an intense back-and-forth battle from both sides. Senior Meghan Hueter netted a trio of three pointers in just over two minutes to give the Great Danes a 47-41 lead that they did not relinquish.
The final minute saw the Big Red appear to take the lead, however a shot from Sophomore Azareya Kilgoe was called back for an offensive foul. The Great Danes got the ball back with 37.8 seconds left and a subsequent series of Cornell fouls led to Cooper going to the free throw line. On her first trip to the line, she made the first shot then missed the second, however she recovered the rebound and drew another foul and subsequently sank both shots to give the Great Danes a two-score lead at 52-47.
Cooper added another pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining to bring her point tally to 24, and seal the 54-47 victory.
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