FRANKLIN, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team closed out the 2021-22 season with a 78-34 road victory over the Bulldogs of Dean College on Tuesday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action to extend their current winning streak to 12 straight games, the longest winning streak under head coach JR Fredette.

Sophomore Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) paced the Falcon's offense with a career-high 23 points to go along with two rebounds and a team-high seven steals. Sophomore Carsyn Langhorn (Norwalk, Conn.) contributed a career-high 19 points with two steals and one rebound, while sophomore Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) chipped in with 17 points. 

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 78 | Dean 34  
Records: Albertus Magnus (16-8, 15-2 GNAC) | Dean (2-16, 2-14 GNAC)
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED
Dean got the action started early in the first as Sitaara Muhammad nailed a deep three for the first score of the game just 13 seconds in. From there, Albertus retaliated with an explosive 15-0 run to take a commanding 12-point lead, 15-3, heading into the final minute of the quarter. 

A Dean lay-up with 40 seconds left in the first halted the run, but Albertus didn't stay down for long, as Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) sank a quick lay-up in the final seconds to send the teams into the second quarter with the Falcons holding the 17-5 lead. 

Out of the short break, Albertus began to see its lead dwindle to as little as eight, 19-11, as the Bulldogs opened the first three minutes of the second with a 6-2 run. However, the Falcons resumed control offensively, rallying off a 9-2 run, ignited by a Scott free throw, to put the visitors ahead by 15, 28-13, with 4:35 left in the frame.

Dean was unable to slow down the Falcons over the remainder of the half, as the visitors exploded for another 8-0 run after a short 4-0 spurt by the Bulldogs. The Falcon's run was halted by a deep three from Dean's Tori Viau, but Raposo countered seconds later with her own trey as the clock ticked down to its final seconds and sent the teams into the halftime break with the Falcons holding the 39-20 lead.    

Albertus continued to pile on the pressure as the Falcons kicked off the second half with a 9-2 run, behind three straight made three's from Scott and Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.), to increase their lead to 16, 48-22, heading into a timeout five minutes in. From there, Albertus put together an 11-3 run behind three made three-pointers from Langhorn and two from Scott, and a pair of made free throws from Langhorn to take a 59-25 lead into the fourth and final quarter.    

Albertus pressed its advantage in the last quarter, putting together a 19-9 run to close out the game, with Zdru netting 13 points in the fourth quarter alone. The 19-9 run sealed the 78-34 victory for the Falcons in the regular-season finale.  

TEAM STATS
Albertus: 48.3% FG | 50% 3PT | 76.9% FT
Dean: 22.2% FG | 13.3% 3PT | 66.7% FT

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Amanda Zdru - 23 points (9-11 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3-3 FT) | 2 rebounds | 7 steals
• Carsyn Langhorn - 19 points (7-12 FG, 1-2 3PT, 4-4 FT) | 1 rebound | 2 steals
• Caitlyn Scott - 17 points (5-10 FG, 4-6 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 5 rebounds | 6 assists | 4 steals

Dean:

• Tori Andrewski - 8 points (4-11 FG) | 8 rebounds | 1 steal
• Alexah Potter - 7 points (3-10 FG, 1-2 FT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steals 

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the third all-time meeting between the Falcons and Bulldogs.
• Albertus extends its all-time series record to 3-0 against Dean.
• Scott is on a nine-game streak of 10+ points. 
• Rivera recorded her 10th multi-steal game of the season. 
• Langhorn has scored 10+ points in back-to-back games. 
• Scott tied a season-high with four steals. 
• Zdru netted a season-high in points.
• Raposo has tallied five straight games with multiple assists. 
• With tonight's victory, the Falcons have recorded four straight seasons (excluding 2020-21) with 16+ wins.

UP NEXT
Behind an overall conference mark of 15-2, the Falcons secured a spot in the upcoming 2022 GNAC Women's Basketball Tournament, which is slated to begin on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd. More information will follow once the remaining teams wrap up regular-season play on Saturday, Feb. 19.