NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team got back in the win column, as it rallied from a fourth quarter deficit to defeat Johnson and Wales, 67-65 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Tuesday evening inside The Nest on the campus of Albertus Magnus College.
Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) finished with a program record ten blocks in the game to go with 11 rebounds and seven points.
Four players scored in double-figures, led by Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.), who scored 20. Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) finished with 15 points including a clutch three in the final minutes. Diamond White (Hamden, Conn. ) scored 11 points with five rebounds and Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Albertus Magnus 67 | Johnson and Wales 65
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (13-4, 5-1 GNAC) | Johnson and Wales (6-10, 2-4 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons fell behind 5-0 early, but bounced back with a three from Zdru and a layup from Scott to tie the game at 5-5 at the 5:26 mark of the first quarter. The Wildcats would take a 10-8 lead after the first as both teams struggled from the field early on.
- Murray-Leach had four blocks and six rebounds in the first quarter.
- The Falcons hit three three-pointers to start the second quarter, two of which came from Zdru and -one from Elizabeth Bruno to take a lead with 6:08 remaining.
- The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the quarter after a jumpshot from Autumn Ford made it a 26-21 game with 2:56 left before halftime. The Wildcats went into the half leading 31-28. Zdru led the way with six points in the quarter.
- Albertus took its first lead in the second half on a layup from Murray-Leach to make it a 35-33 game just over two minutes into the third.
- After the Wildcats took a 40-37 lead on a layup from Naheema Walker, Scott answered with a three to tie the game back up at 40-40. From there, the Wildcats scored seven straight to take a 47-40 lead. After a timeout, a three from Murray-Leach broke the run to get the Falcons within four. JWU took a 52-46 lead into the fourth after a three from Jennell Martin with 48 seconds left.
- Over the course of the first 4:12 of the fourth quarter, the Falcons went on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 54-54.
- Martin answered for the Wildcats with a three, followed by a three from White to tie the game once again at 57-57.
- With under two minutes remaining, Mikayla Caruso hit a three for the Wildcats, but was answered by Scott to make it a 60-60- game. After a time out from JWU, Peyton Oliver missed a layup. Scott grabbed the rebound and led to a three from Zdru with 42 seconds left after Rivera found her on the wing.
- With the Falcons up 67-65 with two seconds left, JWU could not get a shot off as the Albertus defense disrupted the final possession.
TEAM STATS
Albertus Magnus: 29.9 FG% | 33.3 3PT% | 68.2 FT%
Johnson and Wales: 35.1 FG% | 44.0 3PT% | 50.0 FT%
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
Albertus Magnus
- Caitlyn Scott 20 Points | 6 Assists | 5 Rebounds
- Amanda Zdru 15 Points | 5-9 3PT | 3 Rebounds
- Natasha Rivera 11 Points | 12 Rebounds | 3 Assists
- Diamond Scott 11 Points | 5 Rebounds | 4 Assists
- Jakara Murray-Leach 7 Points | 10 Blocks | 11 Rebounds | 4 Steals
Johnson and Wales
- Sarah Wisniewski 13 Points | 11 Rebounds | 8 Assists
- Mikayla Caruso 11 Points | 15 Rebounds
- Jennell Martin 18 Points | 6-11 3PT
NOTEWORTHY
- It was the eighth double-double of the season for Murray-Leach.
- Zdru has scored in double-figures in two of her last three games. The five thee-pointers were her second most in a game this season. She is 12-for-22 from three over her last three games.
- It was the seventh time this season Scott has scored at least 20 points.
- There were seven ties and 11 lead changes in the game.
- Rivera has four double-doubles on the season.
- Albertus now leads the all-time series, 19-12 and have won the last nine matches against each other.
UP NEXT
The Falcons host Rivier in GNAC play on Saturday, January 20 at 1 p.m.
UP NEXT
