By Edwards Kemedjio
The University at Albany Great Danes took the court Saturday afternoon against the Maine Black Bears and were defeated, 65-44. The Great Danes were coming off a dominating win Wednesday against a winless Hartford team.
Turnovers plagued the Great Danes. The team had 16 in the game compared to only seven from Maine, and the constant double teams of Maine affected Alexi Schecter as she led the team with six.
“A lot of the turnovers we had were unforced, they were three seconds, they were travels and that’s been our Achilles heel,” said Coach Colleen Mullen.
The Maine defense locked in on the UAlbany frontcourt players Amanda Kantzy, who recorded 12 points and Schecter, who had 10 points, after a great start. The lack of perimeter scoring was evident, however.
When asked if she wanted her perimeter players to be more aggressive Coach Mullen said, “Our guards play as well as Lexi…when you have non-shooters on the floor it’s like there’s five people in the paint and that makes it tough on everybody.”
A balanced attack fueled the play of Maine, with four of their five starters ending the game in double digits. Senior guard Dor Saar was a leader on the floor posting a stat line of 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.
“I thought our defense was good,” said Coach Mullen. “We got beat on a couple things that we knew we didn’t want to… they really spread you out with their ability to shoot the ball.”
Both teams got off to a hot start. The UAlbany squad shot 63% in the first quarter and the Maine squad was nearly as impressive, shooting 54%.
Both teams were tied at 17 going into the second quarter after their hot starts. However, the Black Bears went on a nine-point run in the second quarter to head into the break with a lead.
After a first half that consisted of 11 lead changes, The Great Danes scoring went into a lull in the second half.
The fourth quarter featured 25% shooting field and only three field goals and the team never led after the break.
The UAlbany Great Danes look to get back into the win column on Wednesday in a game at UMBC.