NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Behind an outstanding defensive effort, the Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team held Dean College to just 27 points in a 75-27 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory on Wednesday evening at "The Nest".
Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) led the way for the Falcons offensively with a game-high 19 points, while Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) wasn't far behind with a career-best 17 points. Freshmen Jaelynn Mitchell (West Haven, Conn.) and Sharaya Keele (Adams, Mass.) also stepped up today, as the former scored a season-high 13 points and the latter hauled in a season-best 10 rebounds.
THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 75 | Dean 27
Records: Albertus Magnus (9-8, 8-2 GNAC) | Dean (2-7, 0-5)
Box Score
HOW IT HAPPENED
Albertus came out of the gate with the hot hand, opening regulation with the quick 5-0 run behind back-to-back baskets from Murray-Leach three minutes into the game.
Shortly after, two free throws from Dean's Tori Andrewski broke up the run and brought the score to within three, 5-2, until a three from Murray-Leach ignited a 9-2 run that extended the hosts' lead to 12, 14-2, heading into a Bulldog timeout with four minutes on the clock.
Out of the break, Albertus maintained possession, keeping the Bulldogs scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, and headed into the second with the 18-point advantage, 20-2.
In the next frame, it was all Albertus as the Falcons outscored the Bulldogs by a 22-4 margin to take a 42-6 lead at the half. The second quarter was led offensively by Carsyn Langhorn (Norwalk, Conn.), who tallied seven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field, while Zdru added five points behind a 3-pointer and a layup.
Dean began to show life in the third quarter, outscoring the Falcons, 7-4, over the first five minutes of the frame. However, Albertus closed out the frame on an 8-2 run to bring the score to 54-15 heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
The fourth and final quarter saw the Falcons score additional 21 points, including nine from Mitchell, while holding the Bulldogs to only 12 points en route to the 75-27 home victory.
TEAM STATS
Albertus: 45.7% FG | 29.2% 3PT | 57.1% FT
Dean: 18.9% FG | 0% 3PT | 53.8% FT
KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:
Jakara Murray-Leach - 19 points (8-15 FG, 3-8 3PT) | 1 rebound | 1 assists | 4 steals
Amanda Zdru - 17 points (7-12 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 3 rebounds| 3 assists | 6 steals
Carsyn Langhorn - 15 points (7-18 FG, 1-6 3PT) | 6 rebounds | 1 assists | 3 steals | 1 block
Jaelynn Mitchell - 13 points (5-10 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal | 1 block
Dean:
Tori Andrewski - 11 points (3-8 FG, 5-6 FT) | 8 rebounds | 1 block
NOTEWORTHY
- This is the second all-time meeting between the Falcons and Bulldogs.
- Albertus remains undefeated against Dean in the all-time series, 2-0.
- The Falcons tied their season-high in steals with 18.
- For the sixth straight game, Murray-Leach led the Falcons in scoring.
- Zdru also recorded a career-high in points with 17 and steals with six.
- Keele's 10-point, three-assist performance was a season-high for the rookie.
- Keele led the defensive attack with a season-high two blocks.
- Langhorn recorded a new season-high in points with 15.
UP NEXT
The women's basketball team will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 1, with a home conference tilt against Lasell University. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM inside "The Nest".
Fans, due to the impending forecast for this weekend, the women's basketball game scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 29, against Johnson & Wales University has been postponed. No make-up date or time has been determined.
