ALBANY, N.Y. — The UMass Lowell women's basketball team (6-9, 0-2 AE) put together a strong first half on the road, but a sharp-shooting UAlbany (11-4, 1-1 AE) squad surged in the second half to hand the River Hawks a 74-62 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Broadview Center.

"A tale of two halves again for us," commented head coach Jon Plefka. "We were up at the half, then our effort and execution failed us, and UAlbany took full advantage. They're a winning program and showed what it takes to respond and overcome a deficit. We'll learn from this and be prepared for our next opportunity on Thursday at home."

The River Hawks fought through a back-and-forth opening quarter, trading baskets early behind three-pointers from junior guard Maddie Rice (Charlottesville, Va.) and junior guard Paris Gilmore (Youngstown, Ohio). Despite trailing 20-15 after the first frame, Lowell locked in defensively in the second.

Lowell took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Great Danes 20-11 to erase the deficit. Senior guard Jaini Edmonds (Worcester, Mass.) ignited the offense, pouring in 17 of her 24 points in the first half alone. The River Hawks utilized a 9-0 run to build their largest lead of the game at six points before carrying a 35-31 advantage into the halftime break.

The hosts responded immediately out of the locker room, shooting 61.5 percent in the third quarter to reclaim the momentum. UAlbany outscored Lowell 25-13 in the period, utilizing high-efficiency shooting from beyond the arc to flip the score and take a 56-48 lead heading into the final stretch.

Lowell continued to chip away in the fourth, trimming the margin to single digits behind steady interior work and timely baskets from Edmonds, but UAlbany answered with key shots down the stretch to maintain separation and close out the win.

Edmonds led the offense with a game-high 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting, while Rice finished with nine points and six rebounds. Senior guard Sabrina Larsson (Uppsala, Sweden) chipped in nine points on three triples, while graduate forward Anabel Latorre Ciria (Zaragoza, Spain) anchored the glass, pulling down eight rebounds.

The River Hawks will look to bounce back as conference play continues next week with back-to-back home matchups against Bryant (1.8) and Binghamton (1.10).