NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team took care of business, earning its ninth straight win, defeating the Pride of Regis (Mass.) College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tilt by a score of 79-68 Wednesday evening inside "The Nest".  

Freshman Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) led the Falcons in scoring with a season-high 27 points behind a game-high six three-pointers to go along with seven rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Teammate Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) also finished in double-figures for the Falcons with 20 points, while Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) and Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively. 

THE BASICS
FINAL: Albertus Magnus 79 | Regis (Mass.) 68
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (13-8, 12-2 GNAC) | Regis (Mass.) (9-8, 8-3 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

Albertus' White opened the game with back-to-back three's less than a minute apart, giving the Falcons the early advantage until a 4-0 run by the Pride brought the score to within two, 6-4. Twenty seconds later, White struck again, recording her third trey of the game, which ignited a 14-2 run that put the Falcons ahead by 14, 18-4, with 4:28 left in the first.

Shortly after, the momentum of the game began to shift in favor of the Pride as the visitors rallied to within seven, 20-13, following a 9-2 run, but the Falcons remained on top, 27-17, heading into the second quarter. 

Following the short intermission break, Albertus came out with the hot hand putting together a 9-2 run, highlighted by seven points from Murray-Leach, to extend its lead to 17, 36-19. A pair of free throws from Regis' Pam Gonzalez cut the deficit to 15, 36-21, but the Falcons responded with a 14-4 run that gave the Falcons their largest lead of the half with 25, 50-25.

Both teams stepped up defensively over the final minute as the final basket of the frame came from the Pride with 43 seconds on the clock to bring the score to 50-27, still in favor of the Falcons. 

Similar to the second quarter, Albertus came out of the locker room with the offensive edge putting together an 8-2 run, including six points from White, to increase its lead to 31, 58-27, three minutes in. Over the next three minutes, Albertus and Regis traded baskets, until a three from Gonzalez sparked a 10-0 run that brought the visitors to within 21, 62-41, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation. 

Despite being outshot by the visiting Pride, 27-17, in the fourth quarter, the Falcons maintained their double-digit lead to secure the home victory, 79-68.

TEAM STATS

• Albertus:  45.6% FG |  56.5% 3PT |  82.4% FT
• Regis (Mass.): 38.4% FG |  35.7% 3PT |  53.8% FT 

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Diamond White - 27 points (8-12 FG, 6-8 3PT,  5-6 FT) | 6 rebounds | 1 assist |1 steal
• Jakara Murray-Leach - 20 points (8-17 FG, 1-6 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 3 rebounds | 1 assist | 2 steals 
• Natasha Rivera - 11 points (3-6 FG, 2-2 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 6 rebounds | 1  assist | 3 steals | 4 blocks
• Caitlyn Scott- 10 points (3-8 FG, 1-4 3PT, 3-3 FT) | 5 rebounds | 8 assists | 1 steals 

Regis (Mass.): 

• Pam Gonzalez - 30 points (11-20 FG, 4-7 3PT,  4-6 FT) |  7 rebounds | 3 assists | 3 steals 
• Valerie Whalen - 12 points (5-13 FG, 2-3 FT) |  11 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal | 1 block

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the ninth all-time meeting between the Falcons and Pride.
• Albertus now is 6-3 all-time against Regis following tonight's win.
• Scott led the Falcons for the fourth straight game in assists with eight, which was a season-best for the sophomore guard.
• Rivera led the defensive unit for the third straight game in blocks with four. 
• Murray-Leach had her eighth game of the season with 20+ points. 
• White also set a new season-high in rebounds with seven. 

UP NEXT
The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, February 12th for a road conference match-up with the Chargers of Colby-Sawyer College. Tip-off is set for 1 PM inside the Hogan Sports Center.