Women's Basketball Storms Back to Top Albertus Magnus, 73-71

THE BASICS 

Score: Emmanuel College, 73; Albertus Magnus College, 71

Records: Emmanuel College Saints (16-6, 7-2 GNAC); Albertus Magnus Falcons (15-7, 5-3 GNAC); 

Location: New Haven, Conn.. – Cosgrove Center

Date: Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College women's basketball team erased a 12 point first quarter deficit to come back and record a 73-71 Great Northeast Athletic Conference road victory over Albertus Magnus College on Wednesday evening at the Cosgrove Center. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons struck first as Shylah Osmond (New Haven, Conn.) put away a nice two-point jumper on a pass from Rah-Rah Thompson (Bridgeport, Conn.). Loredana D'Agostino (Broad Brook, Conn.) then tied it up at four with a little over five minutes remaining. The Falcons then went on a 9-0 run and increased their lead to 13-4 with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the stanza with the Falcons coming out ahead 20-10.  

The Saints opened the second on a 10-1 scoring run to cut the hosts' lead to within one, 21-20, with a little under seven minutes to go in the half. Osmond retaliated a minute later with a fade-away jumper to cushion the hosts lead, 23-20. 

The Saints regained the lead following a six-point run, 26-23, before Osmond scored six straight points of her own to bring the score to 29-26, in favor of the hosts. The Saints resumed control on offense, 32-29, but Osmond nailed a jumper to make it a one-possession game at the half, 32-31. 

Albertus and Emmanuel traded baskets over the first three minutes of the third quarter. With the score tied at 38-38, a three by Thompson gave the hosts the lead again, 41-38, before Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda (Cambridge, Mass.) cut it to one with a lay-up, 41-40, with six minutes on the clock. Despite Albertus holding a two-point lead, 48-46, the Saints held a 50-48 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play. 

Then Saints struck first in the fourth, going on a 6-2 run to open the quarter. Solid offensive work by the Falcons made it a one-point game, 56-55, with eight minutes remaining. 

The Saints answered back with four straight points to bring it to 60-55, forcing the Falcons to call a time-out. The Falcons burst out of the short break with a six-point run and regained the lead, 61-60. The Saints then went on an 8-2 run to take the lead 68-63 with 2:33 remaining.

A basket from Cassie Couture (Waterbury, Conn.) brought the Falcons to within three, 68-65, with just under two minutes remaining in the game. The teams traded baskets until the 17-second mark, with the Saints coming out ahead, 72-68. 

Kyah Nowlin (Stamford, Conn.) drained a long three to bring the hosts within 1, 72-71, but the effort was in vain as Ramirez-Tejeda drained a free throw to secure the 73-71 victory for the Saints. 

TEAM STATS

• Albertus - 39% FG | 25%3PT| 58.3%FT
• Emmanuel - 45.3% FG | 0%3PT| 35.7%FT
• This game saw 11 lead changes and five ties. 

KEY PERFORMERS

Emmanuel:

• Yuleska Ramirez-Tejeda - 25 points (12-21 FG, 1-2 FT) | 11 rebounds | 3 assists | 2 steals
• Loredana D'Agostino - 20 points (9-18 FG, 2-5 FT) | 10 rebounds | 1 steal
• Riley Lahiff - 14 points (6-12 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT) | 9 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 steal

Albertus:

• Shyla Osmond - 38 points (16-33 FG, 1-3 3PT, 5-6 FT) | 6 rebounds | 7 assists | 5 steals
• Rah-Rah Thompson - 13 points (5-10 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-5 FT) | 13 rebounds | 4 assists | 2 steals

DOUBLE-DOUBLES

• Emmanuel: Loredana D'Agostino (20 points, 10 rebounds), Yulesks Ramirez-Tejeda (25 points, 11 rebounds)
• Albertus: Rah-Rah Thompson (13 points, 13 rebounds) 

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the 30th meeting between Albertus and Emmanuel.
• Following tonight's win, Emmanuel (Mass.) is now 28-2 all-time against the Falcons.
• The Falcons drop to 8-2 at home. 
• Both Ramirez-Tejeda and Thompson posted their 17th double-double of the season in the effort.
• Osmond has posted 30 or more points four times this season.
• Ramirez-Tejeda has posted 20+ points in 11 games this year.
• Osmond was three-points shy of tying her career-best 41 points, which was recorded last season against Colby-Sawyer.
• D'Agostino was one point she of her career-high of 21 points which came in her collegiate debut.
• Emmanuel owned a 59-37 rebounding advantage in the win.

UP NEXT
The Albertus women's basketball team continues GNAC play with a home showdown against University of Saint Joseph (CT) on Saturday February 15th at 1:00 PM while the Saints play host to Saint Joseph's College (ME) on Saturday at 3:00 PM in a rematch of the 2019 GNAC Women's Basketball Championship game.

*Release courtesy of Albertus Magnus Athletic Communications