NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Despite trailing at halftime, the Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team stormed back to secure a 59-54 home victory over intrastate foe University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Wednesday evening inside "The Nest" to move to a perfect 7-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.

Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) led the Falcons with 19 points, while Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) put together her sixth double-double of the season with a 13-point, 13-rebound performance. Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.) and Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 and 11, respectively.

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 59 | USJ 54
Records: Albertus Magnus (12-1, 7-0 GNAC) | USJ (9-5, 5-2 GNAC)
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED

• White got the Falcons on the board early as the sophomore guard put in an easy lay-up in the game's first possession to give Albertus the early 2-0 lead.
• The teams battled back and forth to an 8-8 draw with 4:21 remaining in the first stanza before the Blue Jays put together a 4-1 push to go ahead 12-9.
• A White jumper stymied the Blue Jays' run and brought the hosts within one, 12-11, with 2:31 left on the clock, before a 5-0 push from USJ over the final two minutes of the first stanza sent the teams into the second quarter with the visitors holding the 17-11 lead.
• Saint Joseph continued to bring pressure in the second quarter, playing stingy defense and putting together a 4-0 run to take a 21-11 lead over the first minute of play.

• Murray-Leach got the Falcons back on track with a made jumper at the 7:25 mark before a 5-0 run from the Blue Jays pushed the host's deficit to 13, 26-13, with 5:50 remaining in the half.
• The blue-and-white put together a 6-2 push to close out the quarter, as Zdru, Scott, and White all found the net for the Falcons, and the teams headed into the halftime break, with the Falcons trailing 28-19.
• The Albertus offense went to work out of the halftime break, stringing together a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to three, 29-26, before USJ called a time-out. Murray-Leach, White, and Scott all scored for the Falcons.
• A Blue Jays' foul out of the time-out sent White to the charity stripe, where she promptly swished both shots to bring the Falcons within one, 29-28, with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter.
• A 5-0 Saint Joseph push to bring the score to 34-28 was answered with an explosive 11-0 Falcons' run to give the hosts the 39-34 lead with 2:42 left in the third. Scott took control of the game by scoring eight of the Falcon's 11 points, while Murray-Leach scored the remaining three.

• The Blue Jays were unfazed, however, cobbling together a 4-1 push over the final few minutes of the third to send the teams into the fourth and final quarter with the Falcons holding onto a 40-38 lead.
• AMC maintained its lead over the first few minutes of the fourth quarter as the teams traded baskets to bring the score to 45-42 in favor of the Falcons with 6:26 left in regulation.
• A Blue Jays lay-up at the 2:55 mark brought the visitors within three, 50-47 before Albertus went on a 4-0 push to expand its advantage to 54-47 with just over a minute left to play. A traditional three-point play from Zdru was followed by a made free throw from Scott.

• Despite a seven-point explosion from the Blue Jays in the final minute, the Falcons kept the lead with five made free throws from Zdru, White, and Murray-Leach to put the finishing touches on a 59-54 conference victory.

TEAM STATS
Albertus: 29.0% FG | 7.7% 3PT | 73.3% FT
USJ: 33.3% FG | 30.8% 3PT | 33.3% FT

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS
Albertus:
Caitlyn Scott - 19 points (4-16 FG, 1-3 3PT, 10-15 FT) | 8 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 steal
Diamond White - 15 points (5-14 FG, 0-4 3PT, 5-6 FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 steal
Jakara Murray-Leach - 13 points (5-21 FG, 0-5 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 13 rebounds | 1 steal | 1 block
Amanda Zdru - 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-3 FT) | 7 rebounds | 1 assist | 2 steals | 2 blocks

USJ:
Jordan Ouellette - 16 points (8-29 FG, 0-2 3PT) | 11 rebounds | 6 assists | 1 steal
Taylor Verboven - 10 points (4-10 FG, 2-3 3PT, 0-2 FT) | 11 rebounds | 2 assists
Jelly Frigo - 7 points (3-7 FG, 1-3 3PT) | 14 rebounds | 1 steal

NOTEWORTHY

• The Falcons are 29-8 all-time against the Blue Jays and have won the last 11 match-ups.
• Scott continued her season-long streak of scoring 10+ points per game, finishing tonight's contest with 19.
• Zdru scored a season-high 11 points and has scored 10+ points three times this year.
• White is averaging 15.6 points per game over her last three contests.
• Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) recorded her fifth straight multi-assist game with two.
• Murray-Leach collected her sixth double-double of the season.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will next travel to Newton, Mass., on Saturday, Jan. 14, for a GNAC clash with the Lasers of Lasell University. Tip-off is set for 2 PM inside the Lasell Athletic Center.