New Haven, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team opened up Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 72-65 home victory over rival Regis (Mass.) College on Saturday afternoon at "The Nest" located inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

THE BASICS
FINAL: Albertus Magnus 72 | Regis (Mass.) College 65
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (10-4, 1-0 GNAC) | Regis (Mass.) (6-8, 0-1 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED
Regis (Mass.) scored the first four points of the game, but Albertus responded with a 12-1 scoring run, led by five point from Shyla Osmond (New Haven, Conn.), to take a 12-5 lead.

With 1:46 remaining in the first quarter, Regis (Mass.) scored seven unanswered points to even the game at 12-12, but Osmond set up Cassie Couture (Waterbury, Conn.) for a deep three to close the Falcons' lead to 15-12 heading into the second.

Albertus controlled the opening portion of the stanza and held a three-point lead, 19-16, following a pair of made free throws from Couture. However, the Pride's offense picked up the pace from there as the visitors regained the lead, 22-21, and gained a four-point advantage, 25-21, with 6:04 left until the half.

With the clock winding down, Albertus and Regis (Mass.) battled through a tie (25-25) and two lead changes before the hosts found themselves up 36-29 at the half.

Regis (Mass.) opened the third quarter by cutting the defict to four, 36-32, behind a three-pointer from Katryna Veasey. Albertus pushed its lead to seven, 39-32, but after a made free throw from Rah-Rah Thompson (Bridgeport Conn.), Regis went on an 11-2 run to take a 43-41 lead.

Despite Albertus evening the game at 45-45, Regis held a 47-45 lead at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter started off with a back-and-forth battle between Albertus and Regis (Mass.). A three from Pam Gonzalez gave the visitors a two-point cushion, 61-59, with 4:32 remaining in regulation. Osmond followed shortly after with a layup that tied the game at 61-61. Andreah Orr (Danbury, Conn.) then hit a jump shot with 3:39 on the clock to give the Falcons a 68-62 lead.

The Pride attempted yet another comeback with less than two minutes remaining, but the Falcons locked things up to remain undefeated at home.

TEAM STATS

• Albertus: 37.0% FG | 27.8% 3PT | 72.8% FT
• Regis (Mass.): 37.5% FG | 21.7% 3PT | 46.2% FT
• This game saw nine ties and 11 lead changes.
• The Falcons won the battle on the boards, 51-47.
• Albertus outshot Regis (Mass.) in the paint, 36-30, and in points off turnovers, 16-10.

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Rah-Rah Thompson - 20 points (9-18 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 23 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal | 3 blocks
• Shyla Osmond - 18 points (7-21 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3-3 FT) | 4 rebounds | 8 assists | 1 steals | 1 block
• Kyah Nowlin - 11 points (3-14 FG, 3-8 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 3 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal | 2 blocks
• Cassie Couture - 10 poitnts (2-9 FG, 1-6 3PT, 5-8 FT) | 2 rebounds | 2 assists | 2 steals

Regis (Mass.):

• Pam Gonzalez - 17 points (7-22 FG, 3-12 3PT) | 7 rebound | 4 assists | 2 steals
• Katryna Veasey - 14 points (6-14 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 7 rebounds | 1 block
• Taylor Iorfino - 12 points (6-13 FG) | 3 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal
• Arie Searcy - 10 points (4-9 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-5 FT) | 5 rebounds | 1 steal

DOUBLE-DOUBLES

• Albertus: Rah-Rah Thompson (20 points, 23 rebounds)
• Regis (Mass.): None

NOTEWORHTY

• The Falcons are undefeated at home, 7-0.
• Following today's win, the Falcons push its all-time series lead to 5-3 against the Pride.
• This is Albertus' fourth straight win against Regis (Mass.).
• Thompson collected her 10^th double-double of the season.
• Osmond was two assists shy of recording her eighth double-double of the year.
• The duo of Orr and Thompson combined for 34 rebounds. 

UP NEXT
Albertus returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 16 with a road conference showdown against Suffolk University at Emmanuel's (Mass.) Any Yosinoff Court at 7:00PM.