NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team won their second straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match-up, defeating the Raiders of Rivier University by a final score of 84-67 on Saturday afternoon inside "The Nest".

Freshman Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.) led the Falcons with a season-high 28-point effort. At the same time, Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) and Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) chipped in with season-highs of 17 points and 13 points, respectively.

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 84 | Rivier University 67
Records: Albertus Magnus (2-6, 2-1 GNAC) | Rivier (4-5, 0-2 GNAC)
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED
Rivier started the game with the hot hand as the visitors held an early 6-0 advantage before a layup from Rivera broke the Falcons' scoreless drought at the 7:45 mark. From there, Albertus took over offensively, taking a 9-6 lead two minutes later and forcing Rivier to call a timeout to regroup.

Despite the short break, Rivier could not stop the Falcons from pushing their lead to seven, 18-11, with 3:12 left on the clock following a pair of made free throws from Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.). After that, Albertus began to see its lead dwindle against a potent Raiders' offense and headed into the second quarter up only by two, 20-18.

Albertus picked up steam in the second quarter as the Falcons outshot the Raiders 8-0 over the first three minutes to increase their lead to double-digits, 28-18. Rivier was not deterred and managed to battle back to within six, 28-22, on a 3-pointer from Anna Stenger. Albertus countered with a 10-0 run that increased its lead to 16, 38-22, with 3:32 left in the quarter.

Albertus and Rivier continued to trade baskets offensively for the remainder of the frame, and the Falcons headed into the halftime break holding the 41-29 advantage.

The third stanza opened with more back-and-forth action until Rivier built some momentum and went on a quick run that cut their deficit to eight, 49-41, following a free throw from Lyric Grumblatt. However, Albertus kept its composure offensively and hit critical shots that kept the hosts' lead above double-digits.

Despite Rivier battling to within seven, 53-46, at the 2:34 mark, Albertus would head into the final 10 minutes of regulation with an eight-point advantage, 59-51.

Rivier continued to fight and rallied to within five points on two occasions, but a jumper from Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) sparked a short spurt that put the hosts up 13, 69-56, four minutes into the fourth. Albertus took control of the game from there and continued to pile on the pressure, eventually claiming their second straight GNAC victory by a final score of 84-67.

TEAM STATS
Albertus: 45.8 % FG | 36.8 % 3PT | 78.6 % FT
Rivier: 38.7 % FG | 29.2 % 3PT | 63.2 % FT

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:
Jakara Murray-Leach - 28 points (13-20 FG, 2-3 3PT) | 7 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 block
Katherine Raposo - 17 points (7-13 FG, 3-7 3 PT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist
Natasha Rivera - 13 points (3-9 FG, 0-3 3PT, 7-8 FT) | 6 rebounds | 6 assists | 5 steals
Diamond White - 10 points (4-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 4 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal

Rivier:
Lyric Grumblatt - 27 points (10-19 FG, 2-7 3PT, 5-6 FT) | 12 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal | 1 block
Alexa Dufries - 17 points (6-14 FG, 3-6 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 5 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal
Anna Stenger - 10 points (3-9 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3-5 FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 assist

NOTEWORTHY

• Today's game marked the 32nd all-time meeting between the Falcons and Raiders.
• With the win today, Albertus improves to 22-10 in the all-time series.
• The Falcons improved to 2-1 at home on the season.
• AMC shot a season-best 45.8 percent from the floor to score a season-high 84 points.
• Murray-Leach tallied a new season-high with 28 points.
• Raposo also finished with a season-high with 17 points.
• Rivera posted a career-high five steals and a season-best 13 points.

UP NEXT
The women's basketball team returns to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 14, for a home non-conference tilt against Montclair State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in New Haven, Conn.