Coughlin’s Six Threes, Richards Double-Double Leads UAlbany over 87-50 UMass Lowell for Fourth-Straight Win
LOWELL, Mass. – Hitting 10 three-pointers and outrebounding their foes 54-28, UAlbany cruised past UMass Lowell 87-50 at the Costello Athletic Center for its fourth-straight victory.
“We had a phenomenal first half team defense tonight,” said UAlbany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “I loved that we crashed the boards with 23 offensive rebounds, with Tammy Phillip grabbing 19 rebounds today to lead our post players, and our team dished out 24 assists.”
Shereesha Richards earned her 10th double-double of the year and fifth in her last sixth games for UAlbany (13-3, 3-0 AE) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Erin Coughlin earned a career-high six three-pointers on eight attempts and five assists.
“Erin [Coughlin] did a great job getting open and knocking down her threes,” said Abrahamson-Henderson.
Both Tammy Phillip and Margarita Rosario nearly had double-doubles. Phillip grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds with eight points, while Rosario had nine points and seven assists.
For UMass Lowell (2-13, 1-3 AE), Lindsay Doucette had 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Shannon Samuels added 12 points and six assists.
The Great Danes found their mark against the UMass Lowell zone defense to begin, firing away from beyond the arc. Coughlin knocked down a couple of threes, followed by Rosario three from a kick out as UAlbany led early 14-6 by the first media.
The defense held down UMass Lowell with pressure on the zone and in the full court. Coughlin hit a couple more threes as UAlbany held UMass Lowell without points for a span of four minutes, building a 25-8 advantage after 12 minutes elapsed.
UMass Lowell broke the drought with baskets from Shannon Samuels and Melissa Frase, but UAlbany countered with a 12-0 run, helped by threes from Rosario and Sarah Royals, to go up 37-12 at the final first half media. UAlbany led 40-15 at halftime.
The second half started on a furious pace, with each side trying to get fastbreak chances. After going back and forth to start, UMass Lowell went on a 7-0 run to get to 54-30 UAlbany.
The Great Danes struck back by attacking the paint in transition. Helped by a couple of jumpers from Richards, UAlbany surged forward on a 24-6 run, including five-straight points from Megan Craig, to build the advantage to 78-36 with 6:52 left.
The Purple and Gold saw Jessica Féquière and Zakiya Saunders hit shots down the stretch as UAlbany finished with the 87-50 win.
“I was excited to see a lot of our younger players get a chance to play and gain some experience,” said Abrahamson-Henderson.
UAlbany returns to SEFCU Arena on Saturday for its America East home opener, taking on Maine at 2 p.m.
