PAXTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team remains undefeated in  Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action as the Falcons notched their sixth conference victory of the season following Saturday's 82-59 road triumph over the AMCATS of Anna Maria College inside the Fuller Activities Center. 

Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) notched her fifth double-double of the season, netting a team-high 24 points and 19 rebounds to go with two assists, three steals, and two blocks. Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) was the next Falcon to finish in double-figures with 17 points, while teammate Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) collected 15 points. Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with a season-high 10 points.       

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 82 | Anna Maria 59 
Records: Albertus Magnus (10-1, 6-0 GNAC) | Anna Maria (2-8, 0-4 GNAC)
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The AMCATS opened the first quarter with an 8-0 run over the first 2:30 of play following a pair of three-pointers and a lay-up. 
• The Falcons stormed back as four unanswered points from White ignited a 16-0 run over the remainder of the quarter to give the Falcons the 16-8 lead heading into the second stanza.    
• Along with White, Scott and Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) also scored during the run, while Murray-Leach hit a pair of free throws at the .34-second mark before Zdru swished a buzzer-beating three-pointer.  
• Albertus carried its strong offensive showing into the next stanza, putting together a 6-0 run over the first 3:15 to increase its lead to 14, 22-8. 
• The AMCATS broke their scoreless drought and the Falcons' run with a three from Gina Parmenter, which sparked a 12-2 AMCATS run that brought the hosts to within four, 24-20, with 3:12 left on the clock.               
• Momentum shifted in favor of the blue-and-white after that, as the visitors closed out the stanza with their own dominant 14-2 run that was sparked by a swooshing three-pointer from Zdru to take a 38-22 lead into the halftime break.  
• Albertus continued to tack on the pressure by putting together a 12-3 run to take its largest lead of the day, 50-25.
• However, the AMCATS responded with a 16-8 run to cut the deficit to 58-41 with less than a minute to go in the third stanza. 
• A White lay-up with ten seconds remaining pushed the Albertus advantage to 17, 60-43, before the AMCATS Gina Parmenter nailed a buzzer-beating three to send the teams into the fourth quarter with the Falcons holding onto a 60-46 lead. 
• Parmenter kept things interesting as she kicked off the fourth quarter with back-to-back threes, with a Scott jumper in the middle, to cut the deficit to 10, 62-52. 
• Despite Albertus pushing its lead back up to 14, 66-52, at the 6:48 mark, the AMCATS found themselves down 10, 66-56, once again with 5:42 left on the clock.
• The Falcons responded with a 12-3 run to push their advantage back to 19, 78-59. Adrianna Faienza (New Britain, Conn.) drained a trey, while Murray-Leach and Zdru sank a trio of lay-ups.   
• With the clock down to its final ten seconds, Scott took a perfect pass from Jenna Van Hise (Orange, Conn.) in the corner and buried a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Falcons the 82-59 conference victory.   

TEAM STATS
Albertus: 40.8% FG | 19.2% 3PT | 70.4% FT
Anna Maria: 27.3% FG | 33.3% 3PT | 50% FT

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS

Albertus:
Jakara Murray-Leach - 24 points (11-22 FG, 0-7 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 19 rebounds | 2 assists | 3 steals | 2 blocks
Diamond White - 17 points (6-13 FG, 0-2 3PT, 5-6 FT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist | 2 steals 
Caitlyn Scott - 15 points (4-15 FG, 2-8 3PT, 5-6 FT) | 4 rebounds | 3 assists | 1steal
Amanda Zdru - 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-5 3PT, 0-3 FT) | 1 rebound | 2 assists | 4 steals 
Natasha Rivera - 8 points (1-5 FG, 0-13PT, 6-7 FT) | 13 rebounds | 2 assists | 2 steals | 2 blocks   

Anna Maria: 
Gina Parmenter - 25 points (9-21 FG, 7-14 3PT) | 4 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 steal 
Marinique Reddin - 20 points (7-22 FG, 2-8 3PT, 4-6 FT) | 9 rebounds | 3 assists | 2 steals

NOTEWORTHY

• Today's contest was the 19th all-time meeting between the two programs.
• Albertus is now 15-4 all-time against Anna Maria.
• The Falcons tied their season-high in steals with 14 while also setting a season-high in defensive rebounds with 43.
• While notching her fifth double-double of the season, Murray-Leach recorded her seventh game this season with 20+ points. 
• Zdru tied her season-high in points. 
• Van Hise appeared in her first game of the season and scored two points for the Falcons. 
• Rivera has recorded 10+ rebounds in four of the last five games. 

UP NEXT

The Falcons will return to the court for a home battle against in-state rival University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The opening tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at "The Nest" inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.